


I'm No Expert

by Treadmillofanxiety



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Rarepair, Slow Burn, Stuttering, and I apologize once again, and pansy is a meddling gossip queen, basically its old writing so don't judge it too hard okay, bleville, herbology is a riot, idiots to lovers, look im gonna stare into the face of my mistakes and die like a man, the stuttering is not delivered well, while neville is so shy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-10-28 13:20:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 30,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20779238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Treadmillofanxiety/pseuds/Treadmillofanxiety
Summary: Blaise Zabini is the flirting machine of Slytherin. He gets who he wants when he wants them. That is, until Neville Longbottom.It takes a while for Blaise to understand what he is feeling for him, and when he does he tries his best to use his good looks and charms to his advantage, as always.The only problem is that once he becomes aware of his...feelings, flirting doesn't come as naturally to him as it used to.Who knew that it could be so hard to get his feelings across?





	1. Herbology

"I'm sick of this," Pansy stated as they treaded across the campus to the greenhouses. It was nearing Christmas and the snow was falling lightly, giving off a cheery atmosphere.

"Of what?" Draco asked, ruffling some snow out of his blond hair with annoyance.

"Oh you know, you pining after Potter, you whining about Potter, you checking Potter out," She stated, rolling her eyes when Draco glared at her. She had been trying to get Draco to admit his feelings for a while, and it was driving both Draco and Blaise mad.

"But besides that, I'm tired of having to walk through these conditions. Honestly, this weather is dreadful," She flicked some snow off of her nose for emphasis. Blaise rolled his eyes. He was certainly tired of both of his friends complaining about everything, be it about Potter or the winter.

They entered the greenhouses in a sour mood and took their places at some wooden tables near the back of the greenhouse. At least it was warm in there, so that Pansy would stop ranting about how much she hated the winter.

Blaise glanced over to Draco to see that he was searching the greenhouse for Potter.

"Please make it less obvious," Blaise pleaded, tired of Draco's behavior.

"Shut up Blaise," Was Draco's weak remark. It wasn't Blaise's fault that Draco was practically in love with Potter since first year. It was only natural that everyone would eventually tire of his obsessive behavior.

Professor Sprout entered the greenhouse with a pair of gloves in her hands and began to explain the lesson. They were to take care of the Fanged Geranium. Now that they were fifth years, they got to learn about the more...extreme stuff.

The three Slytherins exchanged glances. This was a dangerous task since they were flowers with _teeth_. Very sharp teeth.

"There are going to be groups of three, since you are going to need all of the help that you can get," Professor Sprout announced. The class immediately began to chatter excitedly. "The catch is that you cannot pair with any friends. If I see you with anyone that I know that you are friends with I will have to separate you guys."

"_What?!_" Draco whispered. He looked like he was going into shock. Pansy patted his shoulder solemnly and left to find someone to pair up with. As Blaise swept the room with his gaze to find a suitable group. He caught sight of the Gryffindor, Neville Longbottom and smirked. It was well known that Neville was particularly skilled at Herbology, so it would be an advantage to have him in his group.

Blaise sauntered over to the Gryffindor boy and tapped his shoulder. "Mind being partners?" He asked, smiling easily. He knew that the particular plant that they were to deal with was dangerous and hard to handle, so he would need an expert. Or at least, as close to one as he could get.

Neville blushed and mumbled something shyly. Blaise frowned and tilted his head. "What was that?"

"I said that y-you could, uh... I mean, I wouldn't mind if w-we were partners!" He blushed again and cast his eyes downwards. Blaise raised his eyebrows and shrugged. It wasn't news that Neville was intimidated easily.

"We need a third partner," He stated, searching the room for a suitable person. There didn't seem to be a lot of people left as an option and he mentally cursed himself. He should have been searching for someone else to help them instead of finding entertainment in Neville's blushing.

"W-what about...Hermione?" Neville proposed after catching sight of her. She seemed to be looking around for someone to pair up with.

"Good enough," Blaise approved. It was the perfect group really, with the smartest witch in their year, the Herbology expert, and of course, himself.

After Granger joined them, they approach the Fanged Geranium. Blaise had to admit that he was starting to feel a little nervous. There was a high chance of losing a limb or getting a chunk ripped out of you.

"You don't have to worry," assured Neville, as if he noticed Blaise's unease. "These plants aren't dangerous unless they have been neglected."

"That's kind of the problem, Neville," Granger said. "We have to learn how to take care of the untamed ones for the next few weeks."

Blaise felt the blood drain from his face. There was no way that he was going anywhere near a plant gone rogue with sharp teeth unless he wanted to lose a precious limb. Which he most certainly did not.

"That's alright..." Neville assured as he slipped his gloves on. "We are just working on giving it some water and fertile dirt today."

Somehow, Neville's words didn't do anything to make Blaise's palms stop sweating. He was no Gryffindor. He was not foolish enough to get close enough to water it, but what choice did he have? If he wanted to pass the class with at least an Acceptable, he had to do whatever the Gryffindors saw fit.

"Accio watering can," He murmered, filling it with water and handing it to Hermione. She had used a hovering charm to water the plant, but that resulted in the can getting devoured by the monster of a plant, splashing water all over her. In any other circumstance, he would have smirked, but he had to stay on good terms if he wanted to survive the day.

"Well, at least we watered it," Blaise sighed as he shoveled some fertile dirt. He was definitely not okay with the job, but it had to be done. He quickly tossed some dirt under the giant flower and backed off. The vines coming out of the base of the plants started to wreathe and send dirt flying.

Neville turned to Blaise and gave a small smile. He had dirt on his cheek, which Blaise had to restrain himself from wiping away for unknown reasons.

Probably because he was a neat freak.

Or maybe not, he didn't know.

"Why can't we just stun the damned plant?" He mumbled to himself as they tried to keep the dirt in one place instead of having the plant throw it all over the place.

Neville, who was in earshot gave a horrified gasp. "You can't do that!" The boy whispered.

Blaise wiped some sweat from his forehead. "Why's that?" He inquired. It was only five minutes into the lesson and he was already drained.

"You can't stun the plant even if you wanted to," he explained. "It doesn't respond to many spells, except for an exceptional few."

Blaise had to stop himself from chuckling at Neville's explanation. He just seemed to know a lot about plants. Sometimes he wondered why the boy wasn't in Hufflepuff.

They spent the rest of the hour trying to pack the dirt around the flower. It turned out to be a difficult process that left them physically drained. At least they didn't end up covered in mud and scratches like Potter's group.

Blaise laughed when he caught sight of Draco. His cheeks were red as Potter spelled some mud out of his fellow Slytherin's hair. He supposed that it was good that they were getting along so well. Maybe it would shut Draco up once they get together.

Somehow, Blaise doubted it.

"Uh, B-blaise?" A timid voice asked. "You h-have a little dirt o-on your forehead..."

He looked over to see a flustered Neville pointing at his head. His cheeks were flushed, making Blaise's stomach do something funny.

"You also have a little mud on your face," Blaise said and almost reached out to wipe it away. Thankfully, Neville took out his wand and cleaned the dirt off of his face before Blaise could do anything foolish. Which was nothing. At all.

He shook his head and charmed the mud off of his own forehead, trying to figure out why he was suddenly feeling so strange. Perhaps he had eaten something bad at breakfast? He would have to ask his friends if they were also feeling off.


	2. Trevor

That night, Blaise lay in his bed staring at the ceiling. He had given up on sleep a long while ago and was trying to decide if he should ask Pansy for a sleep potion, as she was an insomniac and had a whole stash in her trunk. She was probably asleep now though, and Blaise valued his life too much to wake her up.

Sighing, he pushed himself off of the bed and quietly exited the room. A night stroll around the castle should do the trick.

He left the Slytherin common room and cautiously turned a corner. It was silent as usual, giving Blaise a chance to think. Why was he so restless tonight?

He kept walking aimlessly with no destination in his mind. He knew that there was a high chance of being caught by a prefect or a professor making their night rounds, but he made sure to be quiet and alert.

As he was turning a corner in the direction of the great hall, he heard a small croak from the shadows. If he was not mistaken, it was a frog or a toad of some sort. Of course, there was a possibility of it being a prank to lure someone over...

Blaise shook his head of his suspicions when a toad hopped out of the shadows and into the moonlight with a wet sound. Its neck was expanding and shrinking as it croaked.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked quietly. Maybe the toad came into the castle while the door was open? There was also a possibility of it being someone's pet, but he couldn't think of anyone who would want a pet toad unless...

"Trevor?" Blaise asked, half expecting some sort of response from the toad, but it simply sat there. He wasn't sure if Neville's toad even knew that it had a name. They were dumb creatures after all, but then again, it probably was his toad because he constantly lost sight of it.

"Shut up or you're going to get me caught," He shushed. The toad either didn't understand, or it chose to ignore him, but either way he had to do something about the situation.

He could walk away and not go through all of the trouble, or he could bring it back to the Slytherin common room for the night and ask Neville about it in the morning.

It was an easy decision to make. He was going to forget the stupid toad and return to his comfortable bed.

He took out his wand and cast a hovering charm and turned back to the direction of his common room.

'_Wait! This wasn't the plan!_' He thought to himself as he cast a silencing charm on the toad. He groaned as he continued on his way to the common room.

He wasn't sure why he was doing it, but he was.

✴✴✴

"Why the fuck is there a frog on my pillow?!" Draco shouted followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the floor.

Blaise groaned and rolled over in his four-poster bed. He had stayed up pretty late last night and he had gone on a walk...

Wait a minute... A frog?

He pushed himself up and ripped the curtains open to reveal a confused Draco on the floor.

"It's not a frog, it's a toad," Blaise corrected, walking over to Draco's bed and seeing a satisfied toad sitting on top of the pillow. It was glaring down at Draco in a smug manner.

Blaise laughed. For such a small creature, the toad definitely had a large personality.

"I'm sure there is a significant difference between the two," Draco sniffed and retreated to the bathroom to change.

Using a hovering charm, Blaise moved the toad to the desk and started to changed into his school robes.

He didn't know when would be a good time to ask Neville if the toad was his, but it definitely wouldn't be during breakfast when everyone would be able to see the interaction. What would people think when they saw that Blaise Zabini had a heart?

"Why is the damned toad still here?" Draco whined as he came out of the bathroom with his styled hair. He cast a glare at the toad as he grabber his tie out of his trunk and fastened it around his neck.

"Why wouldn't it still be here?" Blaise asked, casing a bored look at his friend.

"Whatever," Draco rolled his eyes. "Just replace my pillow case when your frog friend finally leaves."

Then, Draco left, but not before shooting a glare at the satisfied toad sitting on his pillow case.

"We need to get you to Neville," Blaise said as he cast a hovering charm on the frog to take it to breakfast. He looked pretty funny with his little legs moving around in the air as if he were swimming.

"Why are you talking to a frog?" Pansy asked from the doorway. Blaise rolled his eyes and pushed past her and into the common room. It would be best if he didn't answer the question. It wasn't like he had an answer anyway.

They all arrived at the great hall at an earlier time than usual, but that was a good thing since it would mean that Neville wasn't there yet. He would just corner him outside and give him the toad. Easy.

"Why are you smiling?" Pansy asked.

"What? I'm not smiling," He defended. It was just a good morning, that was all.

"Don't look at me like that!" Pansy exclaimed, and Blaise was about to give a retort but then noticed that the accusation was not at him, but the toad.

She poked the toad, who was happily floating in the air with his limbs moving about lazily. It moved its mouth to croak but made no sound.

"Did you put a silencing charm on it?" She demanded. Whipping her wand around, she undid the charm and soon, the toad was croaking again.

"Why, Pansy?!" Draco groaned. "Are you off your bloody rocker?"

She simply shrugged in response and left to the Slytherin table. Draco soon followed suit leaving Blaise behind to wait for Neville.

He didn't have to wait long before the boy came into view. His hair was a little messier than usual and he had small bags under his eyes.

"Longbottom!" He called, drawing the boy's attention. They were outside of the great hall, so there was no one to watch the interaction.

Neville walked over and his face cracked into a grin as he caught sight of the toad hovering. He held his hands out and delicately cupped the toad.

"Trevor!" He exclaimed. He looked so relieved to be reunited with his dear toad that Blaise felt a little proud to have been able to bring Trevor to him. The toad croaked in response.

Blaise took off the hovering charm and turned to leave the scene. He was a little awkward around Neville for some reason and felt the need to leave immediately before he made a fool of himself.

"Wait!" Neville called and grabbed his shoulder, spinning Blaise around to face him. "Th-thank you." He said with a grin. Blaise couldn't help but notice that his eyes were sparkling and he had a small freckle under his eye.

"Anytime," Blaise smiled and left to the Slytherin table, wondering why his shoulder was tingling where Neville had touched him.

He sat himself down next to Draco and across Pansy. They were in a heated discussion about something that Blaise didn't want to bother with. He piled his plate with bacon and toast and added some jam.

"Just make a move already!" Pansy hissed. It seemed like they were having the same old argument as always.

"I can't just make a bloody move!" Draco defended. Pansy simply rolled her eyes and angrily chomped down on her toast.

"The problem with you is that you are a bloody coward," Pansy sneered.

"And the problem with you is that you are too nosy," Draco shot back.

"The thing is, I know that I'm nos-"

"Shut up both of you," Blaise interrupted, a little pissed off that they had to ruin his mood. So much for a good morning.

Pansy huffed and took another aggressive bite out of her toast. "We all have Herbology this morning, by the way," She said, as if that fixed anything.

Except that maybe it did. Even though they were dealing with a fanged plant that could kill them all and flung dirt everywhere. But all of that didn't matter because-

"What are you suddenly smiling about?" Pansy demanded suspiciously.

Blaise shrugged. He wasn't sure exactly what he was smiling about either.

It was just going to be a good day. He could feel it. Even if he was surrounded by Slytherins who bickered like toddlers.


	3. infirmary

"What are you thinking about?" Pansy asked as they neared the greenhouse. She was refusing to talk to Draco because of his reluctance to ask Potter out, and was now bothering Blaise, much to his dismay.

"Nothing," He grunted, hoping that she would take it as the end of the conversation.

"Oh, are you practicing occlumency then?" She chirped. It seemed that she was unable to take a hint.

"No."

"So you are thinking about something?" She prodded.

"No. I thought I just told you that?"

When they entered the greenhouse, Blaise was glad for a reason to get Pansy to stop bothering him, so with a quick goodbye (more like good riddance at the moment), he walked over to Neville.

"Good morning," He greeted, trying to repress the awkward feeling that he got whenever he was around Neville.

"Oh, g-good morning," The shorter boy replied. He also looked like he was feeling rather awkward and was tapping a tuneless beat with his foot.

"Good morning, Blaise, Neville," Hermione said as she joined them at the table. She seemed to be as excited as always and unaware of the awkward tension.

"Should w-we get started?" Neville proposed. "I can grab the wheel barrow."

While Neville was busy with fetching the wheel barrow, Blaise returned to Hermione.

"Does he always stutter like that?" He asked. Hermione looked a little taken back by his question and made a considering face.

"Hm... well, I didn't think to notice it before but now..." She started to mumble something under her breath, leaving Blaise completely confused.

"Wha-"

"I got the w-wheel barrow!" Neville interrupted as he clumsily pushed the dirt over to them. The dirt didn't smell good at all. It was giving off a stench like manure, making them wrinkle their noses.

"Our job is to pack this around the plant so that it gets more nutrients than it probably needs and speed up the process of taming this wild plant," Hermione instructed. She slipped some gloves on and got to work, shoveling piles of dirt around the plant.

For the next thirty minutes or so, they worked on placing manure around the Fanged Geranium. It was very tricky and they were all sweaty and smelled terrible, not to mention exhausted from dodging the swinging vines that the plant was whipping around.

"There! All done," Hermione cheered as she placed the shovel down and tossed her gloves off.

"Finally," Blaise grumbled. "I smell like death."

Neville nodded solemnly and was about to push the wheel barrow over to the back of the greenhouse when out of nowhere, the plant at the station next to them lashed out and struck Theodor Nott, causing him to stumble into Neville.

That wouldn't have been so bad if Neville wasn't pushing his cart right next to the Fanged Geranium opposite of them. It thrashed around and bit Neville's arm, leaving a large bloody gash.

Blaise quickly dashed over and scooped Neville up in his arms to drag him away from the blood thirsty plant. His heat skipped a beat as he realized that Neville had gone limp. His head must have hit the raised bed. He supposed that that was a good thing because then he had probably passed out before the plant tore through his arm. It was better to be painless.

"You need to take him to the infirmary," Hermione instructed, laying a hand on his shoulder. She waved her wand and a few seconds later Neville shook awake.

"Why the hell did you do that?" Blaise asked. As glad as he was the Neville was awake now, he was worried and concerned that he would feel the pain in his arm.

"So that you don't have to drag him across the school grounds. I also cast a few quick healing spells, but they won't do anything much. You're going to have to hurry to madam Pomfrey."

Blaise nodded and swallowed his panic down. Neville wasn't going to die. It was a minor injury, so all they needed to do was make a quick visit to the hospital wing.

"Come on," He murmered to the boy and slung his uninjured arm over his own shoulder. Then, with a little hesitance, he curled his fingers securely around Neville's soft waist.

He almost smiled, but then reminded himself that the poor boy was injured. And that there was nothing to smile about. He wasn't even sure why he was going to smile. Maybe it was hysteria?

On the whole way there, they made no conversation. It was the same awkwardness as usual. He opened his mouth to make conversation several times but changed his mind.

"How did he get this gash?" Asked madam Pomfrey when they arrived at the infirmary.

"He got bit by a Fanged Geranium and knocked his head on the wood when he fell," Blaise explained. He tried to control the shaking of his hands as he lowered Neville on to one of the beds.

"Vulnera Sanentur," Madam Pomfrey said as she pointed her wand at Neville's gash. The wound melted together, leaving dried blood around the area.

"You're going to need a blood replenishing potion for the loss of all of that blood," She said as she handed a vial over. Neville made a face.

"Drink it," She ordered and promptly turned around to attend to another student.

"It tastes like iron," He complained as he popped the stopper off of the vial. Then, he tipped it up and gulped it all down.

Blaise blushed as he watched Neville's throat work the liquid down. He wasn't sure why he was blushing because all he had done was watch Neville drink some potion.

"Are you feeling okay now?" Blaise asked.

"Y-yeah, its just a minor injury. I'll be fine," Neville sighed. He definitely looked less pale now that he had taken the blood replenishing potion and his face was no longer pinched in pain.

"So..." Blaise started. "How's Trevor?" 

"Oh, he's d-doing great..." He trailed off awkwardly and gave a small crooked smile that sent Blaise's heart skipping. In the little moment of silence, Blaise stared at his smile in wonder. How could such a small thing be so beaut-

Wait, what?!

"B-blaise?" The shorter boy tilted his head in concern, "Are you alright?"

No, Blaise thought to himself. I think I need to go. And so he did just that. He ran out of the infirmary with heart pounding heavily in his ears. He was confused, not to mention embarrassed that he had left Neville so abruptly. He was probably sitting on the infirmary bed thinking about what a weirdo he was.


	4. Pansy's Assumption

"Idiot, idiot, idiot!" Blaise shouted as he banged his head on the desk. He was currently trying to study in the Slytherin common room but was getting nowhere. The scene in the infirmary just kept haunting him. Why, out of all of the things he could have done, did he choose to just shoot out of there like a scared little cat? He could have swallowed down his panic and smiled. Or maybe politely excuse hims-

"What's going on in here?" a female voice asked from the dorm entrance. Blaise quickly composed himself and lazily turned his head to see Pansy with a concerned expression on her face. "Is it you who is making such a ruckus in here?"

"Who else would it be, Pansy?" he asked, rolling his eyes. She scowled and dropped herself on Draco's bed across from where Blaise was studying.

"Are you feeling all right, Blaise?" she inquired worriedly. "You've been acting really strange recently, even Crabbe and Goyle have said something about it."

"I don't want to talk about it," he defended. He was tired of Pansy's meddling. She may have looked like she actually cared at the moment with her concerning eyes and little frown, but Blaise knew better. She was a Slytherin, and he knew better than anyone how they could be. She definitely wanted something out of the whole ordeal.

"Blaise, if you need someone to tal-"

"What do you want?" He snapped. It was always good to cut to the chase with Pansy to leave no room for her little games.

"Honestly, Zabini, you make it sound like I'm some kind of manipulative monster," she frowned.

"Is that not what you are?" Blaise questioned with a fake smile. He wasn't sure why he was being more snappish than usual, but Pansy was definitely getting on his nerves. 

She gave a sad smile and brushed a black strand of hair out of her face. "Believe it or not, Blaise dearest, I actually care about my friends' well being..."

He couldn't believe he was actually going to give in, but he needed someone to talk to. "Fine, but you have to promise not to make assumptions." She nodded in promise and motioned for him to continue. "So, I've been really restless lately and its been really hard to sleep. Its not just that, though. I've been finding myself feeling faint and kind of hot..."

Pansy made a face. "It sounds like you're sick more than anything," She leaned forward and felt his forehead. "You don't feel hot or anyth-"

"Excuse you," Blaise interjected, "but who do you think you are saying I'm not hot?"

"Shut up," Pansy snorted. "Honestly, you're such a joke. If you consider yourself hot, then I must be a goddess, at least, in comparison."

"No, you shut up," Blaise laughed. "Its been an on and off sort of thing. Like, sometimes I feel like I'm going to have a heart attack at the pace that its beating sometimes. I also get these weird twists in my stomach... Do you think I'm curse-"

"MERLIN'S BEARD!" Pansy exclaimed so loudly that Blaise could have sworn that the walls shook.

"What are you yelling about?" He asked. Was he actually cursed?

"Who is it?" she asked, practically jumping in excitement, her eyes wide. Blaise reeled back with confusion. Who was what?

"Who are you crushing on, you blunt idiot?!" Pansy elaborated when she noticed how lost Blaise was.

"I-" Blaise started. "I don't know what you are talking about."

Pansy let out a frustrated huff and massaged her forehead with her fingers. "Are you being serious right now? You are almost as bad as Draco was with Potter!"

"I'm not crushing on anyone." Blaise grumbled. It was true. There was no one that immediately came to mind when the word 'crush' was brought up.

"Ooh, is it Daphny Greengrass?" Pansy prodded. "I know that you guys are pretty cosy..." Blaise could already see the matchmaking plan form in her mind.

"It's not her."

"How about that Gryffindor, Romilda Vane? She's pretty."

"Are you being serious right now?" He asked. Why did she care that much? Couldn't she go and find herself a nice boyfriend of her own instead of messing with everyone else's business?

"I know, I know, you guys aren't a thing anymore..." She paused for a moment and bit her lip and cast her eyes out the window in thought. "What about Theodor?"

Blaise choked. "Theodor? Nott?" Pansy nodded her head with a smirk and Blaise groaned. "Salazar, no."

"Why Nott?" She joked.

"Hey, you told me that you wouldn't make assumptions!" He said, ignoring the pun.

"Oh, but I didn't, now did I?" She smirked slyly.

"But you did," he insisted. "Otherwise I wouldn't have continued."

"But that's the thing Blaise," Pansy smirked in a very Slytherin way. "I nodded, but I didn't give a verbal agreement now, did I? Nor did I say that I promised to withhold my judgement or wherever."

"I hate you," Blaise groaned. Why did he have to end up with all of the insolent smartasses? Couldn't he have been sorted into Slytherin by himself?

"I hate you too," Pansy smiled. "But, back to the topic, you have to admit your feelings in order for it to get anywhere."

"But I don't even think I have feelings for anyone, Pans," Blaise frowned. She was just seeing what she wanted to see; a romance. "You need to stop reading romance novels, because they aren't doing anything good for you."

Pansy shook her head. "If you won't tell me, then I'm going to have to find out myself." With a final threatening glare, she turned on her heel and left the dormitory.

He gulped. Pansy wasn't messing around when she said that she was going to find out. Even if Blaise didn't know who his crush was, Pansy would. She was an expert on that sort of thing. She was good at reading people and she knew it, which was one of the reasons why she was placed in Slytherin.

Blaise turned to his notes with a shiver. His fate was inevitable. Pansy would find his crush no matter what.


	5. Potions

The next morning, Blaise rolled out of his bed with dread. Pansy was going to be all over him today with questions about his mysterious "crush."

"Are you alright, Zabini?" Draco asked as he adjusted his green and silver tie. "You look a little grumpy this morning."

Blaise grunted in response. Draco would find out what his problem was soon enough.

They walked to the great hall in silence with Blaise glowering. It looked like the weather was agreeing with him too, judging by the gloomy dark clouds on the enchanted ceiling of the great hall.

"Good morning, Blaise," Pansy greeted with a bright smile. "Would you like some toast for breakfast? Or maybe a special someone?"Draco choked and stared wide-eyed at Pansy. "Since when did you have a thing for Blaise?"

"I- what?!" Pansy shrieked. "That was me dropping hints, not flirting!" She huffed and crossed her arms with a pout.

"Hints?" Draco asked, glancing over to Blaise. "you mean Blaise likes someone?"

"Obviously," Pansy rolled her eyes. "He's just too stubborn to admit it, like a certain someone." She shot a dark look at Draco who shrunk back in his seat.

"At least I don't drop terrible hints," Draco sniffed, raising a thin brow. He smirked and proceeded to spread jam on his toast as if he had won the argument.

"Shut up, both of you," Blaise commanded. He was on edge with their constant bickering and his lack of sleep. If only they would just shut up.

"We have potions with the Gryffindorks after lunch today!" Pansy announced timidly after a brief moment of silence. 

Draco grumbled something and stabbed at his eggs, making Blaise smirk. At least someone else was suffering today.

"What was that, my dear Draco?" Pansy sang, happily adding more jam to a slice of toast. "Do you have something to say? Perhaps a confession of your love for Potter? Or maybe even an announcement of your undying love for him? Your choice."

"Neither," he snapped. Blaise watched with amusement as Pansy's happy attitude morphed into one of dark amusement.

"Is that so?" She sweetly inquired, batting her dark eyes with faked innocence. It was always interesting to see Pansy's demeanor flip like a switch.

Blaise laughed when he saw Draco gulp. There was never a dull moment with those two. They were always bickering about something. But that didn't mean that he wasn't agitated with them.

"Don't think that you can get out of anything, mister," Pansy scolded Blaise. "I'm not exactly happy with you either at the moment and there is only one way to be forgiven."

"Oh Merlin," Draco muttered softly. "Please don't say anything more. I don't want to hear it. I know what you want."

"A new cloak?" Pansy asked. "How did you know what I wanted for Christmas this year?"

Draco stared at her as if she were mad while Blaise rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to admit my so called crush, if that's what you want," He said.

"Oh, don't be so selfish, Blaise dear. Not everything is about you, you know." Pansy smiled. "Just say that you both owe me a favor, and I will be happy."

"Do you think I care about how happy you are enough to say that I owe you a favor?" Draco asked.

"You better," Pansy snapped. "I am your friend after all, and I know things."

Blaise shook his head. "No way. You can leave me out of this. I'm not going to make any deals with you." Making deals with Pansy was the equivalent of selling your soul and watching helplessly as you watched your life crumble away before your very eyes.

Pansy smirked and tapped her chin with a manicured nail. "It would be a shame if a certain rumor suddenly broke out..."

"You better not!" Blaise fumed. "If I get when a little wind of a little rumor going around I will personally make sure that you are dealt with."

"That's a shame Blaise, but I think that it is safe to simply say that you owe me a favor or else risk your life becoming much more... difficult." Pansy trailed off.

"Fine," Blaise gave in, and he realized that he had been doing that a lot lately. "I owe you a favor. Now I'm leaving to my class." It was always safest to leave before Pansy was able to make your life any more miserable.

⚫⚫⚫

"Today we are brewing a simple strengthening potion," Snape announced that afternoon. His silhouette against the sun outside of the windows gave him an intimidating and dramatic appearance. He was glaring daggers at the Gryffindors' direction as usual.

"Since this seems to be so difficult for many of your peers, I am required to place you into pairs in hopes of better results... I hope that you will not fail as the previous classes have managed to do."

Pansy rolled her eyes and met Blaise's eyes from a few seats away. She swept her robes, brushed her hair back, and pulled her lips into a snarl mockingly, making Blaise have to hold back a laugh. She was one of the few Slytherins that strongly disliked Professor Snape, other than himself.

"Don't get too excited," Professor Snape raised his voice even though no one in the class had even uttered a word. "I will be choosing your partners."

Everyone was (still) silent. After five years of having Snape as a teacher, one kind of got used to disappointment. It was almost guaranteed, actually.

"Potter, with Draco," Snape sneered, and Blaise and Pansy tried not to laugh too hard when the potion partners exchanged friendly smiles cross the room.

After a while of Snape staring at the pair with shock and confusion, he continued to list off names from a piece of parchment. "Longbottom with Finnigan."

"Professor," Weasley called from the back, "Both Dean and Seamus are not attending classes today."

"And why is that?" Snape inquired.

"B-because-" the boy started.

"Because they are both, er, bedridden," interrupted Potter with a small smile. Pansy and Blaise exchanged glances and smirked. Dean and Seamus definitely had something going on, and they had been discussing how long it would take for them to get together, not to mention the fact that Terry Boot had just lost a five galleon bet. To both of them.

"Score," Pansy mouthed.

"Fine," Snape sighed. "Then I will pair Longbottom with..." He glanced around the room and pointed. "Zabini."

Blaise smiled at Neville who turned slightly pink. Probably because of how their last conversation had ended with Blaise hightailing his way out of the infirmary like the absolute fool he was.

As if noticing Neville's lack of misery, Snape added, "Maybe then, Mr. Longbottom, you will manage to not completely ruin your potion, as you have an acceptable partner."

A few of the slytherins let out snickers while Blaise frowned, anger coursing through him. He may not have ever been in on the jokes about Neville, but he had never done anything about it either.

When Professor Snape finally finished pairing everyone, Blaise walked over to where Neville was fidgeting in place.

"Are you alright?" Blaise asked, a bit worried about Neville's unease. Did he really intimidate the poor boy that much? Or was he that humiliated by Snape earlier?

"I-I'm fine," he assured. His cheeks were pink and he wouldn't meet Blaise's eyes. "Just...f-flustered is all."

Blaise raised an eyebrow. "Flustered?" he asked. "Why's that?"

Neville shrugged as the pink of his cheeks turned into a full blown cherry-red blush. 

"I'm gonna go get all of the ingredients," Blaise said as he held back the urge to make a comment on the blush and walked to the storage room. He started to pick some jars off of the shelves when he was interrupted by Pansy.

"So..." she grinned. "You and Longbottom are certainly getting cozy."

Blaise rolled his eyes. There was no way that he had a crush on Neville, no matter how cute his blush looked. Pansy was just seeing things that she wanted to see. She had always been good with relationship advice, despite never having been in a serious relationship herself, but this case was different. Balise didn't have feelings for anyone. Pansy was simply complete bonkers.

He stomped off to the table that he and Neville shared and handed him the knife. "Please be careful when chopping the ingredients," he pleaded. "I wouldn't want to take you to the infirmary again."

His partner was quiet as Blaise added the ingredients into the cauldron and stirred. Perhaps he had said something wrong?

"What's the matter?" he asked worriedly. "Did I do something?" 

Neville shook his head and continued to cut the ingredients in silence. 

With a sigh, Blaise turned to Neville with a serious expression. "I just want you to know that if I ever say anything that offends you, I really don't mean to," he felt his cheeks heat up as he continued. "If I do say anything that you don't like, I want you to say something to me about it. I- I don't mean to make you uncomfortable..."

Neville's eyes widened as he searched Blaise's face for something. "Y-you really mean that?" he asked.

Suddenly feeling shy, Blaise nodded his head and mentally slapped himself. He was being too damn Hufflepuff about the whole situation.

They were both interrupted by a sudden hissing from the cauldron.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Neville cried as he backed away from the cauldron. "It's probably m-my fault, I shouldn't h-have distracted you o-or anything, or maybe I c-cut the wrong ingredient and gave it t-to you?!"

Blaise grabbed the shorter boy's shoulders gently and shook his head. "It's my fault," he sighed. "I was talking to you and completely forgot about the potion..." he glanced at Neville, who looked like he was going to cry.

"I-I'm so sorry..."

Blaise smoothed over his expression to one of control and assurance. "It's okay, Neville," he soothed. "All I need to do is stir it a couple of times and it will go back to normal." He didn't want Neville to have a panic attack right in the middle of class and give Snape the sick satisfaction.

He gave the potion a few counterclockwise stirs until it was back to simmering instead of hissing. He then turned to Neville and gave the poor boy a smile. He caught Professor Snape's eye from across the room and narrowed his eyes. Maybe if the stupid professor wasn't attacking and bringing Neville down all of the time, he would actually be decent at potions.

Blaise suddenly had an idea.

"Hey Neville?"

"Y-yes?" the shorter boy replied, smiling slightly.

"Would it be okay with you if I tutored you in potions?" Blaise offered. Merlin knew that the Gryffindor needed some help in this class, even if it was from a mediocre Slytherin student.

Nevilles mouth was in the shape of an 'O' as he stared at Blaise as if he had announced that he was in a serious relationship with the giant squid. He gave a slow nod and continued to stare.

"What?" He asked. "Why are you looking at me like that?" 

"It's j-just that-" He gulped and smiled bashfully. "No one h-has ever offered t-to do something like that for m-me."

"Really?" Blaise asked. "Not even Granger?"

Neville shook his head and chopped some of the ingredients while Blaise simply stared. Yes, he knew that the boy was bullied all of the time, but he didn't know the extent of it. Was he really that much of an outcast among his fellow Gryffindors that the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for him was offer to tutor him in potions?!

"A-are you okay?" A tiny voice next to him asked.

"No," Blaise growled. "No, I'm not okay. What do you mean that's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you? What about your friends? Do they not help you study?"

"Uh, Hermione helps m-me study sometimes," Neville mumbled, looking down at the floor.

Blaise's heart ached as he stared down at the boy's brown hair. Hermione was who he considered his friend? What about the other boys? What about Luna Lovegoo-

"Turn the heat off and leave the potions for me to examine after class. You are dismissed," Snape drawled, interrupting Blaise's train of thought. 

He took a calming breath and looked over at Neville as he swung his bag over his shoulder. "Is this afternoon alright for tutoring?"

The boy nodded and sent Blaise a genuine smile that sent his stomach flipping and his heart fluttering as if he had just made a loop in the air with a broom. 

"Meet me outside of the great hall after classes end," He said and walked off with a slight smile.


	6. Potions Tutor

"So," Pansy smirked at him. "Non-existent crush, huh?"

They were currently drinking tea in the Slytherin common room with Pansy's special tea set that she used for gossip sessions and relationship advice. If you thought that Pansy didn't take her "job" as an official matchmaker and Gossip Queen of Hogwarts seriously, you were severely wrong.

"Sorry, what?" Blaise choked on his tea. He should have known better than to think that Pansy had prepared her tea set for just a casual gossip session.

"Your crush, Blaise," She sighed. "Honestly, do you need a hearing spell? Or maybe I need to use Sonorus so that you can hear me better?"

"I don't need a hearing spell," Blaise bit out. "I just don't know what you're talking about."

"Blaise Zabini!" Pansy exclaimed. "Are you thick in the head?! You are obviously in love with Longbottom!"

"I'm sorry," Blaise said. "But what drugs are you on?"

"None, unless you consider pixie dust a drug."

"Pansy! What the hell?!" Blaise yelled. Pixie was one of the hardcore wizard drugs that made the consumer absolutely mental. Their eyes would become slightly glittery and they would speak in complete gibberish, while experiencing an unbelievable amount of ecstacy. If Pansy was on it, he would know.

"Anyway, what are you planning on doing?" Pansy inquired, taking a sip from her pitch black tea cup. When Blaise had asked why she always chose that tea cup to drink out of, she would answer that it was "for aesthetics," whatever that meant.

"What am I planning on doing?" Blaise repeated, raising an eyebrow in question. "About what?"

"Your crush, you stupid boy!" Pansy groaned. Her cool composure was wearing down from Blaise's reluctance to cooperate, and he couldn't help but feel a little victorious.

"I don't know what you are talking about," Blaise sneered, glad to see that Pansy was growing impatient and tired of his apparent denial. Maybe she would finally get tired of his lack of cooperation and shut up.

"Well," she sighed, adjusting her bangs, "I guess you are just going to have to realize or accept your crush in order for this to get anywhere."

Blaise traced his finger over the intricate swirls on the cup's handle. He didn't have a crush on Neville. He was sure of it, except maybe sometimes he stared too long at the blush covering his face, but that was just because he had never met anyone as easy to fluster as Neville.

"Besides," Pansy grinned, taking another sip of her tea. "You two have a potion session this evening, so maybe we will get somewhere."

With that, she knocked back the rest of her tea and waved her wand, making Blaise's tea cup empty itself and go back into its box.

"Have fun!" She giggled, and walked off to the girls dorms, leaving Blaise to himself.

Blaise rolled his eyes and sat back in his arm chair. Nothing would happen at the potions session, which was in-

"Merlin's balls!" Blaise exclaimed, nearly falling out of his chair. He stumbled his way out of the Slytherin common room after barely remembering to snatch a copy of the potions textbook.

He rushed down the corridor and nodded to The Bloody Baron as he passed. If he was late, Neville was going to think that he stood him up or something.

He continued to run and saw Neville leaning on the wall outside of the great hall, fidgeting with the sleeves of his robes. His brows were drawn close together and he was biting his lip.

"Hey," Blase called as he approached. "Sorry I'm a little late, I was talking with Pans and- are you alright?"

Neville nodded and gave a small smile. "W-where are we g-going for this?"

Blaise made a motion for the shorter boy to follow him and led him to an empty classroom. It was near the dungeons and had a few cauldrons in the corner.

"So," Blaise started, opening the textbook. "I feel like it would be good to just start out with the Drought of Peace which is what we are going to be working on next week." It was better for Neville to be prepared for the next class.

"I'm going to help you make it, but then you have to learn how to make it on your own."

"O-okay," Neville stuttered. He wiped his hands on his robes and rolled sleeves up. Blaise almost smiled at how serious he was being.

As time went by, Blaise walked Neville through each step and corrected him each time he almost made a mistake.

"No, don't add the Hellbore until it has been simmering for exactly seven minutes," Blaise instructed, holding Neville's arm back from tossing the ingredient in.

So far, so good. They had followed all of the instructions right down to the very words. All they had to do now was add the final ingredient.

"Now," Blaise said when the timer reached seven minutes.

Neville tossed it in, and the potion released a silver vapor. Blaise shouted with joy as Neville stood in shock.

"I d-didn't mess it up?" He murmered in disbelief, staring at the potion. "I didn't m-mess it up!"

He looked so triumphant, making Blaise's heart swell with pride. He had never seen Neville like this, all happy and proud of himself. It was rather a rare look on him, but not a bad one.

Blaise patted him on the back. "Now all you have to do is make it by yourself."

Neville's smile disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. "I don't t-think I can..."

"Stop saying that," Blaise scolded. "Everyone always puts you down because you make more mistakes than others, but so what? I just watched you not destroy a potion. Take pride in the little things, Neville, and have a little confidence in yourself."

The shorter boy was staring at him with wide eyes and Blaise winced. Why was he acting like such a Hufflepuff? Did he have no dignity?

"What i-if I can't?"

"I believe you can," Blaise stated firmly. "And if you fail, we go through it again until you succeed."

Neville continued to stare at him in a way that made Blaise's stomach flip.

And it wasn't such a bad feeling.

⚫⚫⚫

When he entered the Slytherin common room, he was greeted with Pansy's smug smirk.

"What are you looking at me like a pug for?" Blaise laughed. He was in quite a good mood for some reason.

"A pug?!" Pansy shrieked. "I never look like a pug!" She crossed her arms unhappily and pouted. Like a pug.

Blaise nodded absently and went to leave to the boy's dorm, but was yanked back into a chair.

"Tell me why you look like you just got awarded as a member of the Order of Merlin first class!"

"Do I have to have a reason for being happy?" He challenged. "Nothing happened if that's what you are asking."

"Hm, you're right," Pansy said, making Blaise look up in shock. "Maybe nothing happened."

"Does this mean that you are finally letting go of your delusions?"

"In fact," Pansy continued, ignoring Blaise, "maybe Neville just makes you happy. It's not that hard to see."

He groaned in frustration. What did he ever do to deserve such a friend so stubborn?


	7. Honeydukes

The next morning, Blaise woke up with a smile on his face. It was a Saturday, meaning he didn't have any classes to attend and he also had a tutoring session with Neville after lunch, which was something that he found himself looking forward to.

"Good morning Blaise," Draco greeted. "You're looking very...upbeat this morning."

Blaise simply nodded and continued with his usual morning routine, except with a little more enthusiasm than usual.

When they left the Slytherin dungeons and arrived at the great hall, Pansy greeted them with a smile.

Blaise blinked. Pansy looked very well put-together. Her short, black hair had a more prominent shine to it and her eye make up was darker and alluring.

"What's the occasion?" Blaise asked, sitting across from the posh looking Pansy. "Got a hot date today?"

Pansy shook her head with a mischievous grin creeping upon her dark red lips. "Today is Hogsmeade weekend, and I am putting a plan into action."

"What plan is that?" Blaise asked suspiciously. None of Pansy's plans ever went well, even though they usually got the desired results.

"Drarry," She simply replied. "I am getting one of them to ask the other out. Of course, our lover boy over here is too busy making goo-goo eyes at Potter to notice my scheming."

And it was true. When Blaise glanced over at his blonde friend, he was indeed smiling dreamily at Potter while the raven haired boy did the same from the Gryffindor table. Why they hadn't gotten together yet was past Blaise. Perhaps they were too stubborn.

"So what are you going to for the whole morning before you have to tutor Longbottom?" Pansy asked.

"Maybe I'll bother Filtch," Blaise shrugged, having no idea how he was going to pass the time. He couldn't go to Hogsmeade because he would end up having helping with Pansy's schemes or wondering alone like a complete loser. He could, of course, get some girl to accompany him, but he wasn't really in the mood for fake smiles.

"Or, you could pass the time with Longbottom," Pansy suggested, wiggling her eyebrows. She still didn't seem to get that Blaise felt no attraction for the Gryffindor.

"If you are suggesting anything," Blaise warned, "I will personally see to it that your tea set is destroyed beyond a reparo charm."

"Oh, I don't have to suggest anything," Pansy smirked, "Because I bet you wanna snog Longbottom so bad-"

She was interrupted by a choking sound behind Blaise and when he turned around, he saw Neville standing there, face as red as a beet.

Blaise's face heated up as well, as Neville had probably heard Pansy's crude remark and was now lost on what to do.

God damn you, Parkinson.

"Oh hey, Neville," he murmered awkwardly, his smile feeling strained.

"H-hi," Neville greeted curtly. He didn't make any eye contact with Blaise and simply stared at the floor, probably trying to hide his furious blush.

"Did you need anything?" Blaise asked gently. He didn't want Neville to feel as if he wasn't wanted at the moment.

"I j-just came over t-to see if..." Neville trailed off, still staring at the floor determinedly. "Nevermind." He said, and started to leave.

"No wait!" Blaise shouted, grabbing Neville's arm. "Do you want to hang out? I mean, we can pass the time before our potions session and-"

That was when he realized that the great hall had gone silent and everyone was looking at them both. Fantastic.

"Piss off," Blaise snapped, and almost instantly, the students started to converse with each other, although everyone's volumes were a little lower, not to mention the fact that a few students were throwing side glances their way.

"Yes," Neville murmered once Blaise focused his attention back to him, " I-I would really like t-to hang out..."

Blaise breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know what would have done if Neville hadn't said yes.

"Alright, wanna head to the library?" Blaise asked. It seemed like the appropriate place, plus it was nice and private, without Pansy's meddling. She would be too busy with getting Draco to ask Potter out anyway.

Speaking of Pansy...

"Can I meet you there?" Blaise asked. "I kind of want to speak to Parkinson for a moment." He sent a glare her way.

Neville nodded and walked out of the Great Hall, leaving Blaise to handle Pansy.

"You did that on purpose!" He exclaimed, pointing his finger at her accusingly. "You knew he was there, and you just had to open your fat mouth!"

"Now, Blaise," she started, looking as calm and collected as ever. "You can't go around pointing fingers because that's very rude. Also, very cute moment that you had with the whole 'don't leave!' and then grabbing his arm. You guys could have your own gossip column in the Daily Prophet."

Blaise stared at Pansy with disbelief. How could she be so calm about it? Did she not understand how awkward it already was between him and Neville?

"Anyway," she continued, "how much you wanna bet on Draco being the one to ask Potter out first? Because I'm not."

Blaise frowned at the change of conversation. He wasn't happy about what Pansy had done, but he would get his revenge later, preferably by destroying her precious tea set.

"I'm betting on Potter," Blaise decided. "And if you can get Nott to bet for Draco, that would be great for both of us."

"I was already planning on it," Pansy smirked. "Now don't you have a Gryffindor waiting for you in the library?"

⚫⚫⚫

"Sorry I took so long," Blaise huffed when he entered the library. "I had to have a good talk with Parkinson about...well, you know..."

Both boys blushed and Neville stared at the table. Blaise wondered if he would ever become close enough to Neville so that they could talk freely without so much awkwardness.

"So," Blaise coughed. "What do you wanna do?"

Neville looked up from the table and shrugged. "I t-thought that you h-had something planned."

"Nope," Blaise laughed. "Just wanted to-" he was going to say 'spend time with you,' but that would be awkward. "-er, pass the time?"

"Oh."

"Yeah," Blaise sighed.

They sat in silence until Blaise was tired of the awkward atmosphere, and naturally, came up with a brilliant plan.

"We could extend the potion session by a bit," he said.

Suddenly, a harsh voice interrupted whatever response Neville might have had. "This is a library!" Madame Pince hissed. "So be quiet!"

They both muttered 'yes, madame Pince' and waited until she moved a few book shelves away before speaking.

"I d-don't really think spending the w-whole day working on potions would help..." Neville whispered.

"Well then, we gotta think of something," Blaise said, not even bothering to lower his voice.

Before he could even blink, the cold hands of Madame Pince grabbed him by the back of the neck and threw him out of the library. When he looked over, Neville was stumbling out of the library as well.

"I told you to be quiet in the library!" She scolded, glaring as she slammed the doors in their faces.

"Did w-we just get kicked o-out of the library?" The Gyffindor boy asked in shock.

"Well, this leaves one option for us," Blaise grinned. He had thought of this brilliant idea seconds before he had been kicked out. "Let's go to Hogsmeade."

"O-okay," Neville squeaked.

"Do you not wanna go?" Blaise asked worriedly. "It's totally okay if you don't want to," He assured. If Neville was uncomfortable, he didn't want to force him into doing anything.

"No!" Neville shouted hurriedly. He blushed and shook his head. "I meant, n-no, I d-don't mind going t-to Hogsmeade...with y-you."

Blaise smiled. "Alright then, let's go!"

They walked down hallways and past the doors of the castle.

During their walk to Hogsmeade, Blaise couldn't help but notice each brush of their shoulders or the warmth of Neville near him in this cold weather. He knew that it wasn't normal to notice that kind of thing, because he brushed shoulders with Pansy and Draco all of the time, but was never so hyper aware of it.

"Where do you want to go first?" Blaise asked once they reached the cheery bustle of the townspeople and Hogwarts students.

"Wherever y-you want to go is f-fine," Neville murmered, playing with the hem of his sweater. That was when Blaise noticed that Neville didn't like to make decisions for himself, or he didn't feel comfortable enough around him to be himself.

"Come on, Neville," Blaise urged, nudging his shoulder. "What's your favourite place?"

"Um, Honeydukes, I g-guess," he mumbled.

"Well then, Honeydukes it is!" Blaise smiled and lead the way. He had half expected Neville to drag him to an Herbology store of a sort with plants and all that fun stuff, but was pleasantly surprised when he wanted to go to the candy store.

"What do you want to get?" Blaise asked the Gryffindor boy. There was a large selection of sweets to choose from and he was rather curious what Neville would end up choosing.

Neville shrugged with a sheepish smile, making Blaise's heart flutter. He was a little alarmed at the feeling but shrugged it off. It was nothing to worry about at the moment.

"How about we play a game?" Blaise proposed.

"W-what kind of g-game?" Neville stuttered, eyes wide with what looked to be... fear. It made Blaise's stomach twist to know that Neville was bullied often and didn't quite trust Blaise yet.

"Don't worry," Blaise gently smiled. "All we need to do is find some candy that we think the other would like. Whoever is correct gets to pick the next place we visit."

Neville's tense shoulders relaxed a little bit and he let out a breath. Blaise watched with relief as a small smile made its way to his lips.

"Alright," Neville agreed, and immediately left Blaise's side to find his favourite candy. Now all Blaise had to do was find the candy that Neville enjoyed.

He walked around the store for a bit, glancing around the isles for something that caught his eye. At one point, Blaise spotted a seasonal peppermint bubblegum pack, but felt that it was too bland for Neville and continued on his search.

After a little more walking around, Blaise saw the perfect sweet: Chocolate Frogs.

There was no way this choice could go wrong. Everyone loved chocolate, and Neville had a toad. But wouldn't that mean that he would be uncomfortable with eating it because it would be like eating his own pet? What if he was one of those few people that didn't like chocolate? But he had seen Neville struggle to catch the chocolate frogs on the Hogwarts Express year after year, and so he figured the boy had to like them.

"H-hey," a soft voice interrupted Blaise's thoughts. He looked over to see Neville holding a box of exploding bonbons with an uncertain expression on his face.

Blaise was definitely impressed. Not many people knew it, but he had an obsession with exploding bonbons. Even with being a proper pure blood, who was to say that he didn't enjoy being a little messy once in a while?

"Wow," Blaise laughed. "How did you know?"

Neville shrugged and gave a small smile, warming Blaise's heart in the process. He knew that at some point, he would have to acknowledge the strange feelings, but that would have to wait. For now, he would enjoy the trip in Hogsmeade.

"What d-did you get me?" Neville asked, peering at the packages in his arms.

Blaise made to hide the packaging under the sleeves of his robes, but before he could, Neville had already caught sight of the purple packages.

"Chocolate frogs?" Neville asked, a small smile making its way to his lips.

"Y-yeah," Blaise stuttered as he continue to watch the way Neville's lips turned up at the corners when he smiled. "You have a toad, and I figured that you...that you uh-"

"They're my favourite," the smaller boy quietly admitted, a smile still evident on his lips. "How did you know anyway?"

Blaise shook himself out of his stupor and flicked his gaze away from his companion's face. "You're always eating them on the train," he mumbled.

Neville made a considering noise tilted his head. "You noticed?"

"I- what?" Blaise startled. Had he really admitted to noticing Neville eating chocolate frogs on the train? When had he become so relaxed on what came out of his mouth?

"N-nevermind," Neville blushed as he looked away. "Let's just b-buy our stuff."

Blaise nodded and followed the Gryffindor to the cashier with a strange feeling swirling around his gut.


	8. Crush

Once they had paid for their sweets, they decided to exit the shop and go to the Three Broomsticks, as they had both won the competition of finding the other's favourite sweets, plus they both agreed that it would be good to get a few butterbeer in their systems, as it had started to snow.

When they entered the pub, Blaise caught sight of Pansy sitting at a table comfortably. She had what looked like the Daily Prophet in her hands, but she didn't seem to be reading it at all. In fact, her gaze was far from the newspaper and was instead in the direction of Potter and Draco, who were enjoying each other's company a few tables down.

"Hey, Neville," Blaise said as they shook the snow out of their hair and clothes, "is it okay if we sit with Pans for a bit?"

The smaller boy immediately blushed and looked away. "S-sure," he squeaked. "I'll go g-grab the drinks..." And with that, he dashed away to the counter before Blaise could say anything else.

The Slytherin raised his eyebrows in confusion before he turned and walked in the direction of Pansy's table.

"What are you up to?" Blaise asked as he approached his friend's table.

"Why, if it isn't Blaise Zabini," Pansy drawled, looking away from Draco and Potter with a grin. "How nice of you to stop by. How is your date going?"

"M-my date?!" He spluttered. "Pans, I have no idea why I have to keep saying this bu-"

"Yeah, yeah, you haven't asked him out yet, I get it," Pansy rolled her eyes, letting out a dramatic sigh. She closed her newspaper and smoothed it out on the table.

"And for your information," Pansy said, "I was reading the Daily Prophet."

Blaise snorted. "More like stalking those two," he nodded at the Gryffindor and Slytherin sitting a few tables away, evidently flirting.

"Where is your Gryffindor anyway?" Pansy asked, changing the subject. "You didn't ditch him did you?"

"Of course not," Blaise grumbled. "He's just getting drinks for us."

"Oh?" Pansy said. "I hope you asked him to order one for me."

Blaise rolled his eyes and frowned. "No actually," he said. "He just ran off before I could say much. It was a little weird."

"Well, what did you say?" Pansy asked, tilting her head to the side. "I hope you didn't ask him to marry you all of a sudden. I mean, you two haven't known each other for that long-"

"Pansy, be serious!" He hissed. "All did was ask him if he was okay with sitting with you for a bit. I honestly don't see how that would make him upset or anything."

"Maybe he thinks that we are dating," Pansy suggested with a smirk. "He could be jealous."

Even though the thought of that sent a weird feeling swooping through his stomach, he didn't think that it was right. There was nothing for him to be jealous of, and even so, Neville just didn't seem the type to get jealous. Anyway, if Blaise was dating Pansy, he would be going to Hogsmeade with her, not Neville.

"Oh, look," Pansy said cheerily. "Hey, Neville!"

"H-hey," Neville replied, bringing over three glasses of butterbeer. He seemed to be having trouble with setting down the glasses without spilling them, so Blaise quickly got up and took two of them and set them down. In his close vicinity to Neville, he noticed that he had some melting snow in his hair and that his scarf was undone, making his stomach feel rather funny.

"That one's f-for Pansy," Neville said, a slight blush covering his cheeks.

"Oh?" Pansy said, a smile forming on her face. Then turning to Blaise, she said, "I approve of him."

If they weren't in a public place right then, Blaise would have liked to hex the smile right off of her smug face.

"So," Pansy started, gleefully sipping her butterbeer, "How was your guys' day so far?"

"It was fine," Blaise said. "We went to Honeydukes and got a few things."

"Is that so?" Pansy asked. "What did you get?"

"Neville got me some exploding bonbons," Blaise said, sitting down and taking a sip from his butterbeer. He was instantly rewarded with warmth spreading throughout his whole body and Blaise thanked Merlin for the existence of miracle working drinks.

"Did Blaise get you anything?" Pansy asked Neville, who was nervously picking at his fingers.

"U-um, Blaise got me some Chocolate frogs," Neville answered, blushing and focusing his gaze on his hands.

Blaise frowned when he saw how much Neville was avoiding looking at Pansy, not to mention the furious blush that was making its way up his cheeks. It looked like the poor boy was uncomfortable. Maybe it had something to do with Pansy.

Blaise quickly sent a meaningful look at Pansy and flicked his gaze in Neville's direction, hoping to pass the message of 'please leave this poor Gryffindor alone'

Pansy sent a quizzical look his way in return and shrugged her shoulders.

Apparently, she didn't get the message. Blaise internally sighed.

"So, Neville," Blaise said, hoping to ease him into a comfortable conversation, "how was your day so far?"

"It was f-fine," Neville said still looking down at his hands.

"Just fine?" Blaise teased. "What must I do to impress Neville Longbottom?"

Neville immediately looked up with wide eyes. "I-I mean it was more...it was more than fun! It was r-really fun! As in, I r-really really enjoyed it!"

Blaise held back a laugh at how flustered Neville was being and nudged the boy's foot with his own.

"I was just messing with you," Blaise chuckled, hoping to calm Neville. "And I had a great time so far too."

Neville's cheeks turned pink and he quickly looked away, but not before Blaise caught sight of the small smile tugging at his lips. It made Blaise's heart skip a beat with excitement that he was the one who was the cause of that smile.

Pansy sent a smug, knowing smirk in Blaise's direction as if she knew exactly what was going on in his head, which made him wonder if she could read his mind.

Blaise quickly shoved those thoughts away for another time and focused on glaring at Pansy instead.

"So," Blaise cleared his throat, eager to distract Pansy from wherever her thoughts were taking her (probably scheming,) "what have you been up to, Pans?"

"Well, if you must ask," Pansy said gleefully, immediately taking the bait, "I have been putting my plan into action."

"Your plan?" Neville asked, looking up from his drink curiously.

"Yes. My plan," Pansy repeated, evidently waiting for more questions on her so called "plan".

"We get it, Pans, you have a plan," Blaise grumbled. "Just get on with it."

"Well, since you are so curious, I suppose I must tell you." she drawled, rolling her eyes at his impatience. "My plan is on Drarry."

"Drarry?" Neville asked, clearly not aware that Pansy simply liked the attention and questions about her "plans", which Blaise knew better than to ask about. They always ended in disaster anyway.

"Yes. Drarry," Pansy repeated excitedly, "is the plan to get Draco and Potter together."

"Oh!" The Gryffindor exclaimed, sitting up straighter in his seat. "Like dating?"

"Like dating, my dear Longbottom." Pansy affirmed, nodding seriously.

To Blaise's dismay, Neville was nodding along with her.

"So...what is your plan?" Neville asked, casting a glance at the laughing (and flirting) pair a few tables away. "It seems like they're getting along as they are."

"Oh they are, but that's only because I've set up their date," Pansy said proudly. "I'm just here for backup, in case something goes wrong."

"I see..."

Blaise frowned as he noticed that Neville was no longer a stuttering mess with Pansy as he was around him. He supposed that he should be glad that Neville was comfortably conversing with Pansy, it was just that it stung a little bit, how he wasn't able to talk with Neville in the same way that his friend was. Maybe he intimidated Neville too much? Or was it something much more?

"I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner," Pansy said, gesturing at Draco and Potter. "It's definitely much better than the other things I had planned, like locking them in a broom closet together, or dropping hints when they were near each other."

Neville nodded. "Hermione also had a few things planned too," he said. "She's like that, I guess. She knew before any of us that Harry liked Draco, although now that I see it, I don't know how we missed it at all."

"Cleverest witch in her year," Blaise said, and almost immediately wanted to take back his words when Neville stuttered a soft 'yeah', reminding him of his own incapability of communicating comfortably with Neville.

"Im gonna go grab another drink," Blaise said, standing up. He didn't think he would have been able to stand another second sitting quietly in his own confusing thoughts.

He walked over to the counter and ordered his butterbeer.

It really wasn't that big of a deal that Neville didn't seem comfortable around him...except that it was.

The fact that Pansy was able to relax Neville enough to engage in a smooth conversation with her showed that Neville just acted flustered around him as far as he knew. The only reasoning for it, as far as Blaise could figure out, was that he was intimidating.

As for Pansy? It wasn't as if Neville had a crush on her. Right? There was always the possiblity that Pansy was just outgoing enough to make friends that easily. Or maybe she just clicked with Neville? But judging by how he had picked at his hands and avoided eye contact with Pansy in the beginning, and how he squeaked and ran off at the mention of sitting with Pansy...the chances of Neville crushing on her were high.

Blaise grabbed the butterbeer off of the counter as he continued to try and sort out his thoughts.

Why did he care so much anyways? Sure, he enjoyed Neville's company, and his little blushes and his shy, hidden smiles, but so what? Since when did he want to be friends with someone so badly?

Before he knew it, Blaise was sitting at the table again, absently sipping at his drink while Neville and Pansy chattered excitedly.

The peace was broken when Draco pushed his seat away from his table and briskly walked out of the three Broomsticks, leaving a fuming Potter behind.

"Oh no," Pansy muttered, pushing her chair back and gathering things. "What did they do now?"

Blaise simply shrugged. Honestly, he wasn't that surprised that this had happened. What was surprising, however, was the fact that the two boys had been peacefully withing each other's vicinity for so long without hexes flying.

"Blaise, do you want to go out there and ask Draco what happened while Neville and I sort things out with Potter?" Pansy asked, worriedly brushing at her bangs.

Blaise simply shrugged and stood up from his seat. He was about to turn to leave the pub, when, after a bit of consideration, he nodded a goodbye to Neville and Pansy.

He pushed the door of the pub open and was hit with the chill and the soft snow floating through the air. Even with the butterbeers in his system, he could feel the cold seeping through his cloak and scarf.

He walked around the Three Broomsticks, but Draco was nowhere in sight. Maybe things got really bad with Potter. Or, Draco was just being his dramatic self, which Blaise wouldn't be surprised about.

He sure as hell wasn't going to spend the rest of his day running around Hogsmeade searching for Draco when he had better things to do. Draco would come around to talk if he needed to, unless Pansy pestered him enough beforehand. So, Blaise turned around and entered the warm pub to to deliver the news to Pansy.

When Blaise entered the pub, he noticed Pansy and Neville frowning at the retreating back of Potter, who was heading to the counter for another drink, assumably. He seemed like he needed it.

"What's Potter's side of the story?" Blaise asked as he walked over to his friends.

"That's just the thing, he won't tell us anything," Pansy said. "I thought that having a fellow Gryffindor with me would get him to open up, but evidently not." She huffed and crossed her arms.

"Well, Draco has disappeared, so we aren't getting anything out of him," Blaise sighed. He knew he should have stopped Pansy from going through with that ridiculous plan of hers.

"Well, that's enough excitement for the day," Pansy said. " I'm heading back to the castle and make sure Draco is okay."

Blaise nodded and gave Pansy a reassuring hug. To be quite honest, Blaise was a little worried about Draco too, but Pansy always worried more than she needed to.

Blaise turned to Neville. "Do you want to head back too?" He didn't really want to cut the day so short, but it was a little past lunch and he was feeling confused and tired from the day's events.

Neville must have seen the fatigue in his face, because he nodded and wrapped his scarf back on.

The trio stepped out into the cold and set off towards the castle.


	9. Awakening

"Draco?" Blaise called as he opened the dorm door. "Are you in here?"

All he got was a muffled reply from Draco, who was laying face down on his slytherin comforter.

"You alright there?" He asked, nearing the blond. He knew how Draco could get sometimes when he was upset.

Draco responded with a shrug of the shoulders.

Blaise sighed and slowly lowered himself next to Draco so that he was laying down.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, worried that the argument with Potter was actually serious.

The blond nodded and rolled over so that he was looking up at the ceiling of the four-poster bed.

"Potter...asked me out," Draco started, a frown tugging at the corner of his lip.

"Why is that such a bad thing?" Blaise asked. "You've been pining after him for so long. Isn't this what you wanted?"

"That's the thing Blaise," Draco sighed. "It doesn't matter what I want. You know how my father is. Produce an heir blah, blah, blah. I can't drag Potter through that."

"And your mother?" Blaise asked, knowing full well that Narcissa Malfoy just had her son's well being in mind. "She wouldn't care, right?"

"Either way, Father will be very unhappy. I can't do that to him or Potter, no matter how selfish I may be sometimes."

Blaise nodded in understanding. Draco had it hard sometimes. He had a reputation or a façade, if you will, to uphold. It was always about what his father wanted and keeping the Malfoy name untarnished.

"So, what about you?"

"What about me?" Blaise asked, careful to keep a neutral tone.

"Don't think I didn't see you at Hogsmeade with Longbottom," Draco said, amusement clear in his voice despite his misery. "Besides, Pansy won't shut up about you and him."

The weight of the exploding bon bons were a strange reminder in his coat pocket as he thought about Neville.

"There's nothing to say on the subject," Blaise said keeping his tone neutral. "We just went to Hogsmeade together since I had no one to go with."

"The great Blaise Zabini couldn't snatch a date?" Draco scoffed. "Doubt it. You can just say you wanted to go with him."

"Now where's the fun in that?" He asked rolling off of the bed and instead jumping into his own.

Draco rolled his eyes. "I could always ask Pansy if you don't want to tell me anything."

"Pansy," Blaise sneered.

Draco raised his eyebrows. "What have you got against her suddenly?" He asked. "Other than the fact that she's too nosy for her own good, anyway."

"Nothing," Blaise said, when really, he just suspected that Neville had a crush on her. That wouldn't give him any reason to dislike Pansy. No, not at all.

"Are you sure?" Draco asked. The poor Malfoy looked confused, but what was Blaise supposed to tell him? That he wasn't feeling too friendly with her because of his confusing feelings?

"Just don't talk about it," Blaise grunted and rolled off of the bed. "I just think that you should focus on what you really want, and if that's Potter, then so be it."

And with that, Blaise stalked off to find the next unoccupied bathroom for some solitude. He needed to gather his thoughts before it was time for Neville's tutoring session.

✴✴✴

As lunch rolled around, Blaise stood leaning against a bathroom stall, debating whether or not he should go to the Great Hall to eat, or simply continue to stay where he was until it was time for Neville's lessons. The idea of moping where he was seemed very appealing, but he knew that Pansy would get worried and send Draco after him.

Stupid Pansy, always worrying too much and jumping to conclusions. Why did she always have to stick her nose where it didn't belong? Why did she have to catch Neville's attention? Why did she have to be so easy to get along with, so easy to love?

With a dejected sigh, Blaise brushed his clothes off and left the bathroom stall to walk to the Great Hall.

There was no point, really, for him to head over there, because he wasn't very hungry to begin with. There was also the factor that he wasn't really done recollecting his thoughts. He knew that he was on to something here, something big and important, that he was vaguely aware of and so close to reaching. He wasn't sure what it was yet, but he was curious and determined to find out what it was.

But he was also afraid.

Some subconscious part of him knew that he wouldn't like what he would find, that he should stay as far away from whatever self discovery he was about to uncover.

"Where were you?" Pansy asked as he lowered himself onto the seat next to his friends at the Slytherin table.

"Nowhere," Blaise murmered, reaching for a sandwich, not really planning on eating it.

"Oh?" Pansy said, "and where is nowhere?"

Blaise simply shrugged, too tired to answer.

Pansy placed a hand on Blaise's shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze, making his chest hurt.

He shouldn't be directing any of his hate on his friend- no, his best friend. It wasn't her fault that Blaise was being selfish with Neville, not wanting to share any of his attention, his affection. He should be grateful that Pansy was there for him, not angry.

"Thanks," Blaise said, glaring down at the wooden table, knowing that she may not know that he was also saying I'm sorry, I'm sorry for hating you.

"You alright?" Draco asked.

Blaise looked up and almost laughed at how obvious it was that Draco was trying his best to keep his eyes from trailing over to the Gryffindor table.

"I'm good," Blaise assured, and took a small bite of his sandwich. It seemed he was feeling a little hungry after all, although he didn't feel like his appetite was back to normal.

"Don't forget your tutoring session with Neville after lunch," Pansy said.

_How could I forget?_ Blaise almost asked, but bit his tongue before he could do so. He didn't want to encourage Pansy's little fantasies about him and Neville.

Speaking of Neville- "isn't that him, leaving the Great Hall right now, Blaise?" Draco asked, looking over at the entrance of the Hall, but very blatantly not looking over the the Gryffindor table, specifically Potter.

Indeed, it was Neville leaving the common room and holding what looked like a thick textbook with one arm.

"You better go check that out," Pansy said with a wink and a wide smile with her blood, red lips. In turn, Blaise glared and quickly left to leave the Great Hall.

"Longbottom," Blaise greeted when he neared the boy in one of the hallways.

"Blaise," Neville nodded, making Blaise's heart thud at how he said his first name.

"Are you ready for our lesson?" He decided to ask, not really knowing what to say.

Neville hummed and nodded his head. "I was going to...to practice. T-the potion...you know...before our s-session."

"Of course," Blaise said, frowning a little at how Neville stuttered around him. He tried not to let it get to him. "Would you like me to accompany you while you practice?"

"...sure," Neville squeaked.

They walked to the dungeons in silence that wasn't awkward, but still uncomfortable. Should he say something about their Hogsmeade trip earlier? He supposed that maybe Neville didn't want to talk about it, since they were just friends going together and it didn't mean anything. It wasn't a date, and if anything, Neville would probably have wanted to talk to Pansy about their time in the Three Broomsticks.

Blaise hated how he felt around Neville, and how Neville reacted towards him. Was it his aura? His reputation? He wished sometimes that his doubts would just end, that he wouldn't have to second guess around the other boy. He was Blaise Zabini for Merlin's sake! He shouldn't be thinking this way at all. He always know what or who he wanted, and went after it. What had happened to him?

"D-do you want me to just...to just start?" Neville asked as he placed the textbook next to the cauldron on the table. He looked so unsure that it made Blaise's heart hurt a little.

"Just go for it," Blaise urged.

He sat back at a table behind him as Neville set to work, organizing the ingredients shakily and flipping the textbook open to the Drought of Peace that they had been working on. He looked so focused and careful, making tedious movements as he heated the caudron, measuring ingredients and adding them.

Blaise wondered what Neville's facial expression would look like if he was sitting right next to him. Were his eyebrows pinched together as his eyes assessed his work? Did his lips press together in concentration, or were they apart, letting short breaths fall from his mouth?

Blaise quickly cut off his trail of thoughts when he saw Neville jump back from his bubbling cauldron.

"Is it-is it supposed to do that?" Neville asked fearfully, tugging at the sleeves of his sweater.

"No..." Blaise said, getting up from his seat to examine what went wrong.

"S-sorry, I'm sorry for- for messing up, I just-"

"Longbottom, it's fine," Blaise sighed, trying to smile a little so that Neville wouldn't think that he was disappointed or annoyed. "You just needed to add a little less of the powdered moonstone. You can fix this by stirring it clockwise twice and adding back some of the previous ingredients to cancel it out."

Blaise helped Neville work through fixing the potion for the next few minutes. He had to tell Neville to stop apologizing a couple of times and show him that it was alright to make mistakes, but it seemed that the Gryffindor was having none of it.

"I- I just mess up all of the t-time," Neville murmered looking away from Blaise's face to focus on measuring the powdered porcupine quills. "And you're just...y-you just know what to do! Y-you're good at potions, you're like- like an expert..."

Blaise scoffed in distain. "I'm far from an expert, Longbottom, trust me on that," he said, tapping on Neville's arm when it was time to add the final ingredient. "Draco is better at potions and he doesn't even try, and to be honest with you, I think he would do a better job at tutoring you than I do."

And Blaise would have asked Draco to tutor Neville if he wasn't so selfish, wanting to be around Neville. He wasn't sure if it was curiosity or something else that kept him hovering around the other constantly, feeling in need of his company.

"I think that..." Neville said, gulping as he dropped his gaze to the table, "I think that you're a g-great tutor."

The smile that spread across the Slytherin's face was probably the most genuine one that he had ever had.

"Thanks, Neville," Blaise breathed, his heart giving a small stutter at the realization that he had used Neville's first name instead of the usual last name.

A bright red flush spread up Neville's neck and face, making Blaise's heart give another strange stutter. He wanted to reach forward and kiss all over the Neville's red face. The thought made Blaise's stomach twist in a rather pleasant manner.

That was when he realized- he liked Neville

As in like, liked.

It was as if a bucket of ice water was poured over his body, making his stomach lurch and his mind go haywire.

How had he not realized before?!

Blaise focused on keeping a cool appearance and not bolt straight out of the room like he did when Neville was stuck in the infirmary.

"Alright, Longbottom," Blaise said, his voice sounding strange to his own ears. "You're set for Potions on Monday. Just stay confident."

And with that, he stiffly walked out of the room, hating himself.


	10. Breakdown

The first thing Blaise did once he was far enough from the potions room was collapse against the nearest wall and drag a hand down his face.

_Pansy is going to have a field day once she knows that she was right all along_, Blaise miserably thought to himself. The hardest thing about this situation, other than the situation itself, was that he was going to admit to Pansy that she was right. He had no choice but to tell her, since he was a hopeless mess anyway.

He laughed humorlessly as he staggered away from the support of the wall in an effort to get himself to the common room.

To be completely honest with himself, he had never been so terrified and helpless in his life. He had never actually liked anyone, at least, not like this, or as much as he liked Neville, who, with his cute blushes and wonderful kindness, made Blaise feel a warmth he had never felt before.

Usually, during similar times of emotional instability, he would find himself a nice girl to fool around with in order to distract himself...but now? It felt somehow wrong to do that, as if it was a betrayal to Neville, maybe even himself, although his newfound feelings didn't somehow make them dating.

Blaise wanted to rip his thoughts from his mind and never place himself at their mercy ever again.

"Zabini?" Draco called from somewhere down the hall.

Blaise's scattered thoughts were interrupted as he turned around to see the blond come up to him and grip his arm.

"You all right?" Draco asked, grey eyes wide with worry. "You really don't look too good..."

"I...I like Neville," Blaise rasped, clutching the sleeve of his friend like a complete madman.

"Uh," Draco said, looking confused and unsure of what to do. "I'm gonna get you to Pansy, okay? Just hold on for a bit."

Draco then dragged a shaky Blaise to the Slytherin common room and pushed him into a chair by the fire.

Blaise had never been happier to sit back and relax on the green sofa.

Draco returned minutes later with a worried Pansy at his side.

"I'm just going to...leave you to it, alright?" He said to Pansy. He then turned to Blaise and smiled reassuringly. "Just give a shout if you need me, alright? I'll be in the dorm."

The blond walked away and Blaise watched helplessly from where he sat. There went his only sane friend.

"So, you finally realized it, huh?" Pansy said as she walked over to Blaise's pitiful form. "Of course, I knew it all along, but you just wouldn't listen to me!"

She sat down next to Blaise and patted his back. "What made you realize it?"

"I..." Merlin, this was embarrassing. "I wanted to...to ki-kiss him."

"Ah, that'll do it," Pansy said sympathetically. "How are you holding up?"

Blaise looked into Pansy's eyes and glared. How did it look like he was holding up?! Not well, obviously. If anything, he was having a complete breakdown.

"Alright, alright," Pansy said, brushing her clothes down in a business-like manner. "What are you going to do about it? Will you ask him if he wants to go to the next Hogsmeade trip with you?"

Blaise spluttered in shock at how Pansy seemed not to understand the situation at hand.

"-maybe give him a nice box of chocolates? I mean, who doesn't like chocolates? And... oh! I know! Neville likes chocolate frogs, doesn't he? So you could-"

Pansy continued to prattle on, completely oblivious to Blaise's shock and lack of excitement. It wasn't as if his realization meant that they were suddenly dating. That just simply was not how things worked. First of all, Neville had to like him back in the first place, which was a very slim chance. If the boy's stuttering and blushing was anything to go by, it was that he was very, very intimidated by Blaise. Second, Neville liked Pansy.

"Pansy," Blaise interrupted, "I'm not going to ask him out!"

Pansy cut her rambling short and stared at Blaise as if he was the most stupid person alive.

"Are you serious?" Pansy shrieked, eyes wide. "You obviously like him a lot! I've never even seen you acting like this, you usually go after whoever you fancy. Is there something I should know?"

Blaise glared. Of course, there was plenty of things Pansy should know. Neville wasn't just someone he fancied, like the others. The people Blaise had been with were simply...entertainment or distractions, usually, although sometimes he did feel for some.

Neville though...Neville was different. Neville made his heart feel like it was going to leap out of his chest, leaving him more breathless than he already was. It was as if what Blaise was experiencing was a new emotion, one that would drive him to madness if he ever ran after it.

"I can't be with Neville," Blaise said, shaking his head. "I just can't."

Pansy shrieked and threw her hands up in an 'i give up' sort of gesture.

"Literally, what am I missing here?" She asked, getting up from her seat and pacing in front of him. "You get along, you buy each other sweets, you always stare at his blush, you even like his damn frog!"

"Trevor is a toad," Blaise corrected.

"Toad, frog, lizard, I honestly couldn't care less," she sneered. "What I'm trying to say is... WHY CAN'T YOU JUST SEE THAT YOU ARE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER?!"

Blaise blinked as he leaned back in his seat. If he was being honest, Pansy was taking her job as Matchmaker very, very seriously. Maybe even a little too seriously, but Blaise wasn't going to ask about motives or reasoning, because honestly? It didn't matter. He wasn't going to do anything about his feelings.

"Whatever," Blaise said, regaining his composure and slowly arranging his face into a blank expression. "There's no evidence that we are meant for each other, and you are more than welcome to just drop this and never talk to me about this ever again."

Blaise was beginning to get up from his chair when he was pushed down by a very angry Pansy.

"You," she hissed, "will stay right where you are, Zabini, because right now? I'm not dealing with any of your shit. Yes, that's right, it's time for you to drop the act and start showing that you care, or that you're scared. It's time to let it all out because this is just going to end up hurting both of you guys."

Both of us? Blaise thought, confused as to how it was hurting Neville at all in the first place. It was Blaise that was going through this unwanted awakening, not Neville.

"You absolute idiot," Pansy sighed, looking away from Blaise's confused expression. "He obviously likes- ugh, you know what? I'm done with the hints. Figure it out for yourself."

Blaise simply blinked up at her as he tried to ignore the small sliver of hope that was making its way to his chest.

"You can't possibly know that Neville likes me," he said. "You just can't, unless he told you."

She shook her head. "Neville didn't tell me anything. But I know."

No, Pansy didn't know anything. Neville didn't tell her that he liked Blaise because he probably had a crush on Pansy. Didn't she see how relaxed he was around her presence? Or how he was so friendly around her, as if they had known each other forever? The small bit of hope shriveled up and died in his chest. Neville didn't like him, and it was better off that way.

"There's no way you would know, and I don't want you telling me these things," He said, looking down at his hands. "I...you know how I am, Pans. I've never even been in a serious relationship. I just ruin things, just like my mum, and-"

"Oh, Blaise," Pansy crooned kneeling down in front of him as she took his hands in hers. "Don't say that, I'll bet you would be wonderful in a serious relationship. You can be pretty caring when you want to be, you know." She reached up and patted his cheek as she gazed into his eyes as a comforting mother would. "As for ruining everything, I would say that you haven't ruined Draco and I just yet. There may still be hope for that disaster of a boy."

Blaise gave a wobbly little smile as he tried to hold back some tears. He really didn't deserve Pansy.

"Here," she said, getting up and grabbing his shoulders. "Let's get you to bed so that you can sleep off all of today, and you can deal with this in the morning, yeah?"

Blaise nodded thankfully and let himself be lead to his dormitory bed.

He was so worn-out that he almost didn't notice Draco worriedly staring at him from his own bed.

"Blaise," she murmered, pulling him close for a hug. "I don't mean any offense to your mother, but I'm not sure if she has the right idea in mind about relationships, and so, we can't really say that you are anything like her. As long as you won't marry Neville for his money, I think you're good."

She pulled away and turned to Draco, who exchanged a few concerns with her before turning from the room to leave the two boys in peace.

"Blaise," Draco said, walking over to set a hand on his shoulder. "I'll set up some relaxation charms on your pillow while out get your pyjamas on."

Blaise numbly nodded and turned around to grab his pyjamas from his trunk to get dressed.

He really appreciated Draco and Pansy takin care of him like this. He knew that Draco was comforting Blaise in the only ways he knew how. It was really thoughtful of him to place relaxation charms so that he wouldn't have a restless sleep.

Blaise finished dressing himself and turned to see that Draco had finished casting the necessary spells.

"I hope you sleep well," Draco said, and turned to his own bed.

Blaise hummed in appreciation as he sank into his bed. There was a nice relaxing aroma surrounding him and he felt his muscles loosen a considerable amount in the shoulders. He didn't even know that he was feeling that tense.

Before he knew it, his eyelids were feeling heavy, and his breathing evened out into a calm rhythm.

Blaise Zabini sank into his first relaxing slumber in years.

He smiled.


	11. Golden

Blaise opened his eyes to the early morning dormitory, sun still barely peeking over the horizon. There was a sort of early morning tranquility, as if he had risen when everyone in the world was still peacefully slumbering, yet to wake up for early morning bustle.

Blaise blinked the sleep out of his eyes and began to dress into some clothes. He was feeling rather well rested and he felt the need spend his morning by himself, with his own thoughts somewhere secluded.

The place for that, he decided, was the grassy area close to the greenhouses. It was a nice area to watch the sun rise and get lost in contemplation.

Once he was dressed in his clothes, Blaise left the Slytherin common room and walked through the silent halls of Hogwarts.

As it was so early, there were only a few students wandering around the castle. He probably didn't have to worry about any of the students being Neville or any of his Gryffindor friends, as Blaise had never seen them this early in the day. He would know, since he would frequently wander the castle when he was unable to stay asleep.

Blaise passed under the large doorway of the castle and walked across the cobbled walkway. His shoes made a click-clacking noise as he progressed, creating a comforting rhythm for him to latch on to.

Even after last night's rest, his thoughts were still a swirling mess of useless insecurities and questions that would never be answered.

He stood on the grass for a moment, taking in the chilly morning air and focused on his mind.

Why were his thoughts dominated by Neville? His mind had never been like this in the past, always lingering on his studies or planning out schemes on how to win over some girl that he had taken an interest to, but never on Neville. They had shared classes for the past years, passing each other in the halls and maybe even sharing glances (he sort of doubted that).

It puzzled Blaise how Neville was able to almost completely take over all of his thoughts after one simple conversation that they had shared on that day of being partnered in herbology, leaving him not quite the same as he was before. After they had started to share each other's company more often, Blaise found himself seeking the boy's attention more and more, and it concerned him.

It concerned him how Neville would react if he were to ever find out about Blaise's feelings.

Neville wouldn't be disgusted. He was too kind, too caring for that. At least, if he was disgusted, he would never openly show that to Blaise.

He probably didn't risk losing whatever friendship they had if Neville were to find out. Neville supported Draco and Potter, so he would be fine with Blaise being gay (gay? Blaise really didn't know if that was the right term for him, as he had also liked girls before, just never in the way that he liked Neville). He was also just an overall nice person, so when he didn't return his feelings, he would still be on friendly terms with Blaise (hopefully).

Confessing would be hopeless. He wasn't good enough for Neville. Neville was so kind and full of innocence. Blaise would probably ruin that for him. His past reputation would probably bother Neville, making him undesirable, as Neville would most likely think that Blaise was simply playing games with him, and not looking for a committed relationship.

Blaise really didn't deserve to be with Neville, let alone be in a romantic relationship with him. He had played around with people, fully knowing that they felt for him. Even worse, Blaise had never even thought to do anything about the others in his house bullying Neville. He had always just allowed it to happen.

Despite all of that, Blaise smiled at the thought of how Neville made him feel. Everytime Blaise saw his blush, it was as if the sun was rising. Every smile made Blaise just want to melt into the ground. Neville simply made Blaise want to prove himself to him. He made him want to show the Gryffindor that we was worthy of his attention and that he was deserving of his attention.

"B-Blaise?" A voice called behind him, and he felt a hesitant tug on his shirt from behind.

Blaise knew who it was before he turned around to see the freckled face and timid smile. He should have known better to pick a spot that wasn't so close to the greenhouses.

"Hey, Longbottom," Blaise greeted, noting that the sun was starting to extend it's rays above the hills.

"B-Blaise," Neville said, "what are you doing here this early?"

He wanted to deflect the question by asking what the other was doing out here at this time anyway, but decided against it. Neville wouldn't appreciate a snarky remark anyway.

"Just thinking," he replied, staying vague. Salazar knows how awkward that would get if Neville got even the smallest hint of what was creeping in his mind. He wasn't stupid.

"Oh," Neville said, and stepped right next to him and looked towards the rising sun.

"It's really beautiful..." he breathed as Blaise stood rigid next to him.

The light from the sun was casting a golden glow around the shorter boy's face, making his eyelashes golden and adding a sparkle to his eyes. It really wasn't helping that his mouth was slightly open in awe.

His heart was beating so fast and loud in his own ears, Neville could probably hear it from where he was standing next to him. Flustered, Blaise swallowed with effort and dragged his gaze back to the rising sun, Neville's beautiful face still burned into his eyes.

Their hands were almost brushing, sending a tingle up his arm. It was really too much for him, and he couldn't give himself away, so he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Blaise?" Neville said softly, turning towards him.

"Yeah?" Blaise asked, turning to Neville, hands clenching in his pockets as he tried to avoid focusing on his beating heart.

"I...I never thanked you, y-you know for the- for the Hogsmeade Trip," Neville shyly murmered, eyes searching Blaise's face for what, he wasn't sure.

All he knew was that his chest was soaring. Heat rushed up his neck as he tried to tell himself that it wasn't a big deal that Neville was thanking him for their Hogsmeade trip. All they did was buy sweets for each other, yes, but that was sort of not a big deal for him. At all. And now, here Neville was, thanking him for it. He had seeked Blaise out to tell him that he wanted to thank him for their trip.

He wanted to say something flirty, like 'oh, the pleasure was all mine', or 'I should be thanking _you_'.

Instead, he ended up mumbling a bunch of nonsense as he tried to keep himself together.

"I...um, well, y-you- er, thanks," Blaise mumbled, looking anywhere but at Neville's searching gaze. He wouldn't really have minded if he melted into the grass at that very moment.

It would have been clever if he had asked Neville if he would have liked to go on another Hogsmeade trip with him. But no, he had to become completely undone.

Undone?! When had this ever happened to him? Where was the smooth Blaise Zabini, the flirty and desireable Slytherin that got whoever he wanted?

Not here, apparently.

Blaise tried to keep his cool as he looked into Neville's eyes.

That was when Blaise knew he was screwed.

They were so close to one each other, not exactly chest to chest, but definitely close to it. Certainly close enough for Blaise to skitter his stare around the Gryffindor's face. His cheeks were flushed a bright red, making Blaise's stomach swoop dangerously. Then, he made the mistake of glancing down at his lips.

Neville had his lips slightly pinched together, as if nervous. Looking at them was a very bad decision, because now Blaise couldn't help his breath catching in his throat at the thought of placing soft, delicate kisses along his mouth. As a result, he started to lean closer to him, in a slight daze of warmth and wanting.

Their breaths we're now mingling in the air, Blaise's shallow and quick, and as he noticed with a skip of the heart, was Neville's. His hands were itching to just grab Neville's, but they were stuck in his pockets, and it would be too much work to do anything other than kiss Neville.

Blaise's stare flicked to his eyes, and he was immediately snapped out of his foolishness. Neville's eyes held a spark to them that was unfamiliar to him. He had no idea what it meant.

All he knew was that he had almost kissed Neville.

"I- erm," Blaise said, coughing a little as he took a few steps back. "I have to...er I need to go."

He then started to walk off to the safety of the Slytherin common room with the knowledge of what he had just done.

The image of Neville's lips were stuck in his mind. The idea of his own lips pressing against the other boy's was simply impossible to ignore.

There was no forgetting what had just happened, at least, not for him.


	12. Abandoned Classrooms

After that particular incident, Blaise rushed to the Slytrin dorms in the hope that, when he got there, Pansy would offer some advice. She would know what to do.

When Blaise entered the common room, he wasn't really expecting Pansy to be sitting in one of the high-backed green and silver couch with her arms crossed expectantly.

"Where have you been?" She asked, arching a dark, thin brow. "Hopefully not with some girl who you've convinced to help you forget your oh-so-terrible problems."

"Pans," Blaise began, not even knowing where to start. "Where would I find a girl this early in the morning? Are you fully awake yet?"

"Oh, I'm awake," Pansy assured, "and grouchy as hell. Do you have any idea what it is like, to be sleeping somewhat soundly, only to be woken up by Draco's stupid owl with a message saying he has no idea where you are? Do you?!"

Blaise didn't think that this was a question that was meant to be answered.

"We are worried about you, Blaise Zabini!" Pansy continued, eyes wide and face pink from her ranting. "If you had only seen yourself last night! You were all staggering and in shock, we didn't know what you were capable of doing! So when Draco sent me an owl about how you were missing from your bed, I was worried! I didn't know where you were, what you were up to, nothing! So when I ask about your whereabouts, you will answer!"

Blaise could see that Pansy was working herself up into a bad state, and would probably end up waking up the whole Slytherin house, so he gave in to Pansy's demands.

"I was out to get some fresh air," Blaise said, "with some peace and quiet, maybe watch the sun rise..." And there was Blaise's mistake. Immediately after he mentioned the sunrise, Neville's beautiful complextion in the glow of the sun's golden rays was in his mind, making him blush slightly.

"Galloping gargoyles...are you blushing?!" Pansy exclaimed. "Oh Salazar, you're blushing, I never thought I would see the day..." Pansy was fanning herself with her hands now, looking up at the ceiling in shock as she breathed shallow breaths.

"Stop being so dramatic," he growled, not in the mood to be made fun of. His face still felt slightly warm from...whatever that was, and he didn't need Pansy to rub it in.

"Aww, it's almost as cute as when Longbottom blushes," she teased, making Blaise become even more flustered. Nothing would compare to Neville's cherry-red blushes anyway, but he wouldn't tell her that.

"Anyway, something happened," Pansy said seriously, switching to business mode. "You have to tell me."

Blaise would have rather died on the spot than tell Pansy anything, if not for being so desperate for help.

"We almost...I sort of- kind of..." Blaise felt like he was choking on his own words. "I almost...almost ki- kissed him."

"MERLIN SAVE ME!" Pansy screeched, slapping both of her hands to her cheeks. "Is this happening? This is happening?" She looked over to Blaise, who nodded timidly. "OH MY, THIS IS HAPPENING."

He didn't really understand why Pansy was freaking out so much, as nothing had actually happened between him and Neville. It was an almost-kiss, which counted as nothing, if you asked him.

"How did he react?" Pandy asked eagerly, focusing on Blaise so intently, he could feel her lazer gaze on his face.

"He didn't do anything," he replied, trying not to show disappointment. "He just stood there."

"Hmm..."

"I mean, he sort of just...stared at me?" Blaise continued, not sure what information Pansy was looking for.

"We kind of just...uh, breathed the same air, really close."

"Hmm,"

"Like, really close."

"Hmm,"

"What the hell do I do, Pans?" He groaned, tired of her annoying humming.

"Go out with him, of course," Pansy said, as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

"I can't just...do that," he said slowly, not sure that Pansy was in her right mind. "There are steps to take and things to consider...like, does he like me back?"

"Of course he likes you back, you bonehead. Anyone with eyes can see that," She replied. "As for taking steps, you should just seduce him, considering you are experienced with flirting and...BAM! You've got a cute boyfriend."

He had to admit that Pansy was making a compelling case, except for the fact that it was a failure of a plan. He would have liked for the plan to work, but he needed the reassurance that his feelings were returned.

✴✴✴

His answer came to him after lunch, when he was walking to his charms class.

His mood was considerably lighter after eating some lunch. Pansy and Draco had gone ahead at his insistence, as he had to run back and grab some quills to replace the broken ones from earlier classes.

Just as he was turning down one of the halls, he was slammed into a suit of armor and sent sliding down the wall with a weight upon him.

"What the hell, Potter?" Blaise exclaimed, pushing a panting Harry Potter off of him as he stood back up. What the Gryffindor was doing, he had no clue.

"No time to explain," Potter rushed. "just follow me."

Then, the Gryffindor pushed him into an abandoned classroom with himself and slammed the door shut.

"Well, I never took you for the type, Potter," Blaise said, raising his eyebrows suggestively. "I'm flattered, honestly, but I'm not interested, as I've got classes to attend." He then extended his arm to push the door open, but was surprised by a smack on his hand.

"Shut up," Potter said, casting a glare his way. "I need to talk to you about something."

Blaise had heard about Potter's sass, but had never had the pleasure of being on the receiving end of it, as Draco constantly was.

"Well, well, Potter," Blaise drawled as he leaned back on an open space of wall. "What can I help you with? Are you running from someone?"

"Hermione," Harry said, nodding. "She's trying to force me together with Draco using one of her plans."

"Plans?" Blaise asked, feeling like something was familiar about the situation.

"Yeah, Plans," Potter confirmed, eyes turning grim in the wand light. "She's been trying to get us paired together in classes, locked in abandoned classrooms, that sort of thing."

Now that, he was familiar with. It seemed like there was a Pansy in the Gryffindor house.

"I don't really see why it's a problem, or my problem," Blaise said, picking at his nails with faked disinterest. "As far as I know, you two are the star-crossed lovers of Hogwarts."

"The problem is that I can do it myself. Things are fine between us," he said, glowering at the floor. It seemed that he didn't receive help well.

What Blaise really liked about Gryffindors were how they practically wore their hearts on their sleeves for all of the world to see. There was rarely any hidden intentions without obvious giveaways.

"As much as I love listening to this drama, I still don't see how this has anything to do with me," Blaise said.

"Well, the thing is...earlier today, I happened to wake up early and as I was heading down the stairs to the common room, I kind of heard voices-er not the kind that you need to worry about, or you do, but not- uh, forget it- anyway, I stopped because it sounded sort of quiet...like a secret?"

As Potter was rattling on about whatever it was, Blaise couldn't help but roll his eyes a little. Whatever Potter was trying to say was obviously embarrassing for him, judging by his ramblings.

"-and I'm not the type of person to eavesdrop, but it sort of happened...anyway I noticed that it was Neville and Hermione. They don't usually hang out together at that hour, at least I don't thinks so...I wouldn't know, I'm not usually up-"

"Salazar, Potter, get on to the important part!" Blaise exclaimed. The rambling would have to stop at some point if they wanted to get anywhere.

Potter took a deep breath and aimed his sharp green eyes at Blaise. "Do you like Neville?" He asked seriously.

Blaise's stomach dropped at his words. Was this a trick? What was Potter trying to do?

As if Potter had heard what Blaise was thinking, he said, "don't worry, I'm not trying to do anything...it's just really important. Otherwise I can't tell you anything else."

Blaise reluctantly nodded and internally sighed at himself. What was he doing? Now Potter knew of his feelings for Neville, and he was done for.

"Okay, good," Potter said, making Blaise widen his eyes in surprise. Good? What was good about it? The Slytherin player going after the shy, innocent Gryffindor sounded like something that would set all of the other Gryffindors after his ass once they found out.

"I can't believe that you are even slightly okay with this," Blaise said, shaking his head. What world had he woken up in?

"Hermione supports it," Potter said. Blaise had to admit that it would be a damn good reason, if it made any sense.

"What do you mean Granger supports it?!" Blaise exclaimed, feeling more and more lost by the minute. Potter was really doing a crap job explaining.

"Just, listen," Potter insisted. "This morning, I heard Hermione asking Neville really weird questions, like what your reaction was to the kiss you guys almost had."

Blaise felt as if his heart was going to fall out of his chest. What was Potter on about? If he was hearing correctly, Hermione, Neville, and now Potter knew about the almost-kiss. To make it worse, they were discussing it in their common room! Where everyone could hear!

"Anyway, they talked some more, but I wasn't really listening, but near the end of their conversation, Hermione told Neville that you liked him back," Potter finished, smiling slightly.

Now Blaise was absolutely sure that his heart was going to leave his chest. It was simply too much. If Hermione was assuring Neville that Blaise like him back, that meant that...Neville liked him in the first place. Which meant that Pansy's plan was a go.

"Why are you telling me this?" Blaise decided to ask the flustered Gryffindor before him.

"Well, I thought that you deserved to know, and I want Neville to be happy," Potter said, making Blaise's lip almost curl at how disgustingly Gryffindor he was being. Typical Saint Potter.

"Thank you for the information," Blaise sincerely said. "It means a lot."

"No problem," Potter said, giving a small smile.

They stood there awkwardly in the empty classroom for a few more seconds, at a loss of what to do.

"Well...er, I guess I'll be...going now?" Potter said as he reached for the door.

"Wait, Potter," Blaise said, remembering something. "About your problem with Draco, just talk to him, alright? Us Slytherins are getting rather tired of his moping." Information for information. Blaise didn't enjoy being in debt of others for their kindness.

Potter's eyes widened and he nodded.

Blaise smirked and pushed open the door, setting off at a fast pace. He was going to be late for his charms class anyway, but he didn't feel it necessary to loiter the halls.

"Wait, Blaise!" Potter called from behind him, "just a heads up, Hermione might drag you into her plans, so watch out!"

"Same for you, Potter," Blaise said. "I would watch out for our Pansy and her little schemes."

Then, Blaise rushed down the halls, feeling lighter than ever. Maybe it was the warmness of making a new friend or ally with Potter, or, maybe it was the knowledge of who Neville's heart resided with, strengthening Blaise's resolve to get closer.

It was probably the latter.


	13. Disaster

That afternoon, Blaise was late to his charms class and received a detention. He wasn't that bothered by it, as Flitwick's detentions were never too harsh or unbearable. It was why he was pretty relaxed about missing some of the lesson in the first place.

When Blaise had sat down next to Draco and Pansy, he could feel a sort of victorious smirk on his own face. He knew that he wouldn't be able to stop whatever satisfied expression that would stretch across his face after learning of Neville's feelings anyway, so he wouldn't deny that he was wearing a rather gloating expression.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Pansy asked, tilting her head and squinting her eyes at him. "What about your cool reputation?"

Blaise rolled his eyes. She sure knew how to sour his mood with her mocking humor.

"What happened anyway?" Draco asked, waving his wand about lazily as he practiced the charm that they were supposed to be learning. "Something to do with you and lover boy?"

"If by lover boy, you mean Potter, then yes," Blaise replied, pleased when a quizzical expression crossed Draco's face. It was funny how obviously curious he was, as it had something to do with Potter (naturally).

"What?" Pansy whispered in confusion. She turned to Blaise which wide, confused eyes.

"You heard me," Blaise said, leaning back in his chair carelessly. "Potter payed me a visit in an empty classroom to give me a little something."

Draco was scowling at Blaise with so much intensity he felt that he would crack from the pressure. He would feel sorry about all of the insinuations, but he just couldn't bring himself to. It was simply too much fun to tease Draco, even more since Blaise knew all of the coming out of his mouth to be true.

Oh, Potter, you bring it upon yourself.

"What did he give you?" Pansy asked with a disbelieving expression.

"Information," he answered cheekily.

It was good information, that was for sure. Who knew he would get along so well with Draco's future husband?

"What kind of information?" Draco asked.

"The kind that is valuable to me," he answered. There was no need to tell them anything, since they would only meddle with his business. He wanted to make the big step of asking out Neville first...without Pansy's "help".

The charms class passed in a blur of nagging from Pansy and whining from Draco. They were like children, and Blaise had no idea how he had tolerated them for so long. It was a good thing that his resolve was so strong, or else he would have given in to feed the gossip monsters he called friends.

When it was time for Potions with Snape, Blaise felt jittery with nerves. The knowledge that Neville liked him came as a relief, but it was also...nerve wracking somehow. It was as if everything was suddenly in an entirely different light. Everything was more serious now and he felt more alive and determined than he had in a while.

"You're smiling again," Pansy said, nudging him in the ribs as they gathered outside of the potions classroom.

"Shut up," he mumbled.

His heart skipped a beat as he caught sight of Neville rushing over to stand with the rest of the students waiting for Snape to arrive.

Blaise had no idea what he was supposed to do. Judging by what Potter had said, Neville was aware of their almost-kiss and had even asked Granger for advice on it, so walking over and saying anything would be too awkward. Acting as if nothing had happened would do more damage than good, but he couldn't just outright say anything about it either.

_Why did everything have to be so damn difficult?!_

"What are you waiting for?" Pansy asked, catching where Blaise was looking. "Go talk to him!"

"I can't just do that!" He said, wondering why he was even trying to protest when it was the same as doing so to a brick wall.

"Yes, you can," Pansy said, setting a hand against her hip in a bossy manner. "Just go talk to him."

Blaise glanced over to Draco for help but with no avail. The blond was obviously suspicious of Blaise after the mention of Potter and probably realized that he was being given vague answers for the sheer fun of it.

"Sorry, Zabini," Draco shrugged, not looking sorry at all.

"Yeah. Sorry, Zabini," Pansy parroted with glee as she pushed Blaise over to Neville with more force than what was possible for her small frame.

Sometimes he wondered why he even considered them to be his friends.

Blaise stumbled gracelessly in front of Neville, and to make it worse, he was blushing. Sure, he found it cute when Neville blushed, but when he did it? It completely ruined his charm and made him look like a fumbling boy who was having an internal panic attack (which he was, by the way).

There was only one way to save the situation and win Neville over: charm him with witty conversation.

"H-hey," Blaise choked out, "how are you doing...today?" He then made an attempted smile which probably looked like he had something stuck in his mouth. Merlin, he should have sent a stunning spell at himself the moment those first words left his mouth, but no, he just had to continue the suffering.

Somehow, Neville was able to smile warmly at the greeting instead of hightailing it, and sure, his mouth was twitching a bit from contained laughter, but Blaise couldn't have asked for anything else.

"Hi," Neville said, voice shaking with little giggles that sent a shock right through Blaise's heart, almost killing him on the spot. "I'm good today, thanks for asking, Blaise."

That did it. Blaise felt his soul immediately leave his body as Neville said a sentence without the nervous stuttering to Blaise. It was finally happening! And he had even called him by his first name!

Not only that, but Neville's demeanor was more sure and confident than this morning, which added to Blaise's fatality. Cute, shy Neville was great, but confident Neville? Oh, Salazar, save him now, he was blushing again.

Blaise would have simply continued to stand there staring at Neville with amazement for however much longer if not for Snape billowing past to open the classroom.

Everyone followed into the potions class in a hurry, not wanting to be yelled at by the easily angered professor, including Neville, who muttered a quick "bye" with a sweet smile before following along, delivering the final blow to Blaise's heart. He was now officially shell shocked, to say in the least.

"Merlin's tits!" Draco exclaimed, his face pale with shock as he approached Blaise, who was staring blankly ahead, as if hit with the Body-Bind Curse. "I've never seen you like this before!"

"Yeah, I think Longbottom killed him," Pansy said solemnly, shaking her head. "Poor Blaise."

Draco waved a hand in front of Blaise who slapped it away half-heartedly. He was still processing everything that had happened in that short time, and he wanted to remember every second of it.

"He's just weak for Neville's smile," Pansy continued, lips twitching as another blush crept up his cheeks at the reminder.

"Yeah," Draco said, "you weren't kidding when you said Blaise had it bad."

"Shut up, Draco Potter," Blaise grumbled, pleased when Draco's pale complextion turned scarlet. 

"Hurry up guys, class is starting," Pansy said. "Don't wanna get Professor grumpy in a rage."

Blaise reluctantly followed Pansy and Draco into the classroom and into their usual seats in the back, still flustered from Neville's confidence. He had to keep his eyes from searching Neville out in the dark and dusty room in order to keep whatever composure he had left. He didn't want to end up like Draco, who usually made eyes with Potter wherever they were, although he wasn't sure when they had evolved from heated stares full of hatred to heated stares of...something else. 

Merlin, was he becoming like Draco, who was obsessed with Potter? Would he soon be calling for attention from the other boy, embarrassing himself to no end?

"We will be brewing the Drought of Peace, as it is the next potion listed in your textbooks," Snape drawled, sweeping his robe and setting the chalk in motion, listing the ingredients required. "This shouldn't be too difficult, as I have assigned research in the past regarding it, so you should all have a general idea of what to do. Begin."

Blaise sent a worried glance at Neville's back. When he had offered to tutor him in potions, he hadn't been really thinking about what the consequences would be if he were to succeed. Snape would most likely accuse Neville of cheating in some way or punish him for getting a potion right, as he wasn't the best at potions.

"I've made a mistake, Pans," Blaise whispered as they waited for Draco to gather ingredients. 

"I'm aware, " she said. "You're going to have to be a bit more specific."

Blaise gritted his teeth in annoyance. "Stop being a smart ass. Remember how I tutor Neville sometimes for Potions?"

Pansy nodded and raised a brow in question. 

"Well, he's been doing really well," Blaise whispered, glancing over to Neville, who was staring down at his empty cauldron with furrowed brows.

"Wait, really?" Pansy said, eyes wide. "I never expected that...why are you telling me this now?"

Blaise shot another glance at Neville, who was now teasing his lips between his teeth with a concentrated expression. It was honestly really cute, except that this was a very serious situation at hand. "Don't you think that if Neville succeeds...there's going to be consequences?"

Pansy narrowed her eyes. "As in 'Snape consequences'?" 

"As in 'Snape consequences'," Blaise confirmed. 

"What's the worst he's going to do, accuse him of getting help from someone?" Pansy scoffed. "It's not a crime to get tutoring."

Blaise nodded but didn't banish his worries. Snape enjoyed picking on Neville, so he couldn't let his guard down. The poor boy's boggart was his own potions teacher, for Merlin's sake! 

There was nothing he could do at the moment, so the reasonable thing to do would be to concentrate on the task at hand, which was the potion. 

Throughout the class, Blaise couldn't help but cast worrying glances at Neville continuously. This had resulted in him messing up his potion numerous times and having to do extra work to fix his mistakes. At one point, he had caused his potion to turn a violent shade of scarlet because he had been so concentrated on how much powdered porcupine quills Neville was adding, which caused Pansy to give him a reassuring look and Draco to give him a worried glance.

He couldn't say that his stomach was in a good state by the time everyone's potions were complete. His own potion was giving off a light sliver vapor, as was Draco's and Pansy's. When Blaise looked over to Neville's potion, he felt a proud tug in his chest when he saw that his was giving off a small amount of vapor. It was a little less than normal, but it was certainly a great achievement. Blaise still couldn't ignore the worry tightening in his stomach.

Neville surprised Blaise by turning around to give him a rather large grin, melting his heart a little and making his stomach feel a bit better. Neville's hair was sticking to his forehead from the warm vapor coming out of his cauldron, face a little flushed. 

Snape started to walk around the room evaluating the finished potions. 

"Potter, the textbook clearly says that the vapor is supposed to be silver," Snape said, dark eyes hard with malice, "Not yellow. Clearly you are unable to read properly. Ten points from Gryffindor for your incompetence."

Potter scowled hard as the Gryffindors groaned around him.

"Can't say I'm surprised," Draco said, shaking his head.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Finnigan," Snape continued down the row. "The Draught of Peace does not call for being blown up."

"Longbottom-" Snape started, but made a double-take at the sight of Neville's potion. Although there was not as much vapor as there was supposed to be, and the potion itself looked rather watery, it wasn't in as bad of a condition as Crabbe's or Goyle's were.

Blaise couldn't help the small smile tugging at his lips. Neville had really done a good job, and the expression on Snape's face was extraordinary. 

"Ten points from Gryffindor for cheating," Snape said, recovering himself from the shock. "Miss Granger, please refrain from helping Longbottom during class, as you should have learned during third year."

Blaise remembered the particular lesson Snape was talking about and shuddered. Neville had asked for help from Granger with the potion they were making that day, as the failed potion would have been tested on poor Trevor, likely resulting in his death.

There was outraged cries from the Gryffindors. Blaise couldn't say that he was surprised at what Snape had done, but he wanted to join in the Gryffindors' protests. 

"He didn't get any help from Hermione," Weasley yelled, voice rising above his house mates. 

"It's true, Professor," Granger said.

"Am I somehow supposed to believe that Longbottom was able to complete a potion without completely ruining it, and on his own, nonetheless?" Snape sneered, clearly disturbed by the very notion of it.

Blaise's heart sank as he noticed Neville's happy expression fall.

"Yes?" Potter replied as if Snape was arguing that the sky wasn't blue. Blaise was thankful of Potter's support, whether it be because he simply liked to make Snape lose his cool or that he actually believed in what he had said.

"Unlikely," Snape sneered. "Detention this evening, Potter, Longbottom, Weasley."

Blaise had never felt so furious in his life. Was it really so hard to accept that Neville was able to correctly complete a potion? He knew that this would happen, and yet he didn't do anything to stop it. What was wrong with him? 

"Blaise?" Pansy said, placing a hand on his arm. "You're shaking."

He took a startled breath and looked down at his hands to see that he was, indeed, shaking. It was just not fair. Neville had worked hard all weekend with Blaise to get the potion right, and somehow, this was the treatment he got as a result? He knew that Snape was a downright arse, but was it really necessary?

"Damn," Draco hissed beside them, "This is messed up."

"I'll say," Pansy agreed, glaring at Snape.

Snape simply ignored the uproar and continued to criticize the Gryffindors and take more points off while giving measly points for those who had made the potion correctly. 

When Blaise earned points for his potion, he couldn't say that it felt good at all.

\---

"That sucked," Pansy said as they packed their bags and walked out of the class. "I somehow feel more terrible than after every other potions class."

"Yeah, well, maybe its because something terrible happened," Draco said, rolling his eyes. "It did suck though."

Blaise simply ignored whatever they were bickering about and hung back to wait for Neville.

He soon caught sight of him dragging his feet out of the classroom, eyes trained on the floor as Granger patted his back sympathetically.

"Sorry, mate," Weasley said. "All I can say is, at least you aren't in detention by yourself."

Potter furrowed his brows at what the redhead had said as Granger smacked him in the arm with a "not helping, Ronald."

Blaise watched the scene with slight amusement before catching Granger's eye. She was wearing a very worried expression that was what Blaise imagined to be motherly.

"We should get going before Ron makes it worse," Granger said, dragging a confused Weasley away from Neville. She then leaned over to Blaise and murmured, "Look after him" before continuing to drag her companion down the hallway.

"I'm really sorry, Neville," Potter said sincerely, patting Neville's shoulder before turning to Blaise with a nod and running after his friends.

They were now standing alone in the hallway empty of students. Neville was still staring at the ground, shoulders slightly hunched.

"Nev?" Blaise breathed, brokenhearted at how down he was. His breath caught when Neville raised his eyes to meet Blaise's to show how watery they were. 

He quickly rushed over to carry Neville's bag and put an arm around his shoulder for support. Neville really looked like he needed it at the moment.

"Do you want to go somewhere quiet?" Blaise asked, rubbing a hand up and down his shoulder in a way that he hoped was comforting.

Neville nodded and leaned farther into Blaise's side, making his heart jump widely and secure his arm tighter around him.

He could apologize later for what Neville had been through, but for now, he was going to make Neville feel better.


	14. Finally

Blaise lead Neville to where he knew would be a nice and private place for them to talk. He knew of a small alcove between two pillars on the wall that wasn't too far from where the potions classroom was and was usually quiet around this time of day.

He placed their bags on the ground and lowered Neville and himself onto the bench between the pillars and settled himself so that he was leaning against the wall with Neville tucked under his arm, silent.

Blaise gazed down at the top of Neville's head and hesitantly brushed his fingers through his hair reassuringly. He had seen Pansy doing this for Draco at times when he was upset with his head resting in her lap, ranting about Potter-this and Potter-that.

It seemed to do the trick, because Neville burrowed himself farther into him so that his face was on one the side of Blaise's chest, hands clutching at his robes. He knew now wasn't the time to focus on it, but he felt his skin start to feel warmer and his heart beat faster than it was a few minutes ago.

But no matter how nice their position felt, Blaise had responsibilities, and apologising to Neville was one of them.

"Nev," Blaise murmered, gently pushing Neville away by the shoulder, one arm still around his back, "Look at me, please."

Neville tilted his head up to show his watery eyes, making Blaise's stomach twist. He couldn't believe he had allowed this to happen. Of course Snape would do something like this.   
Blaise had allowed himself to become so distracted by Neville, never even pausing to think that maybe his infatuation would only end up hurting the boy. All because he was selfish and happy enough to spend time with Neville that he never bothered to think it all through.

He reached out to brush his finger under Neville's eye, getting rid of some tears. He just wanted to kiss it all away, to make him feel better in the only way he was good at, but that wasn't going to solve anything.

"Nev," Blaise said, searching his eyes, "I'm so sorry for what happened, I wasn't thinking, I should have done better, but I didn't and now-"

Blaise was cut off by Neville wrapping his arms around his torso tightly and burying his head into his shoulder with a small sigh.

Blaise could feel a blush creeping up his neck and his stomach curling in a pleasant way as Neville's body pressed against him, as if showing that he was forgiven. Blaise responded by moving his arm to loop around his waist and run the other up and down his back soothingly.

"You know," Blaise murmered, "I'm rather proud of you today for doing so well on your potion."

He could feel Neville smile into his shoulder, causing a smile to stretch across his own face.

"I just- I'm really sorry," Blaise sighed, guilt stirring in his gut. "I should have known, I could have done something but now..." He trailed off, clenching his teeth at the fresh memory of Snape's cruelty.

He was startled out of his inner turmoil by Neville pushing himself out of Blaise's embrace and grabbing the hand that was rubbing his back with both hands.

"It's okay," Neville said, looking into his eyes with a small smile. "You don't have anything to apologise for."

Blaise flickered his gaze down to his hand that was being held by Neville's hands and felt himself blush furiously. He was so flustered that he didn't even have time to register the relief at Neville being fine.

Neville let out a small giggle at his blush, emitting an embarrassed noise from the back of his throat. Was being smooth for once too much to ask?

"I just want you to keep tutoring me," Neville said, determination in his eyes after a beat of silence between them.

"Wh-what?" Blaise asked, shifting to angle his body towards Neville more. "Why?"

Who in their right mind would want Snape to humiliate them even more? Blaise wondered why Gryffindors were so keen on bad ideas that were more idiotic than they were brave.

"Lots of reasons," Neville said with the most serious face Blaise had ever seen. "I can do better in potions when you teach me."

"What are the other reasons?" Blaise asked, raising a brow quizzically. He couldn't even imagine the appeal that made Neville to want more tutoring in the first place. The only outcome he could think of was more shame, humiliation, and detentions.

The Gryffindor mumbled something and blushed bright red, gazing down at Blaise's chest.

"What, Nev?" Blaise asked, unable to understand what he had said. "Mind repeating that?"

"You," Neville mumbled, hands covering his face in embarrassment, making Blaise swear that his heart stopped for a moment.

"What about me?" Blaise asked, enjoying his chance to tease Neville.

"You know," Neville responded, voice slightly muffled through his hands.

"No, I don't," He laughed, pulling the hands away from his face by the wrists to reveal a blushing mess that was Neville.

"You do!" Neville said, looking absolutely irked, yet also amused at how entertaining Blaise found the situation.

He hummed in response and grinned at Neville's lighter mood. He was glad that he was able to distract him from what had happened in potions, if only for a little while.

The mood changed when Neville's eyes flicked down to Blaise's mouth, expression changing completely to the one that he had that morning, when they had almost kissed.

He could feel the grin slipping off of his own face as he realized how close they were and glanced down at Neville's lips. This was it. This was the moment he had been waiting for.

He gravitated closer, heart pounding in his chest, in a similar haze as the one he was in that morning, except that this time, he was more sure of himself. Neville liked him, and he liked Neville, and that was all he needed to know.

He could feel Neville's hands shaking in his own, so he laced their hands together as he slowly moved his face even closer to give Neville the chance to change his mind, as he was obviously nervous. Blaise was nervous too, although he was careful not to show it.

As Blaise was gradually inching closer and closer, Neville surprised him by surging forward to meet his lips.

It was certainly a moment to remember. Neville's lips were nothing like he would have imagined them to be (not that he had been imaging it, mind you) as they were firmly pressed against his, demanding and confident. It surprised him that Neville was the one taking control of the situation, instead of being shy and allowing Blaise to take the lead.

Not only that, but he had expected Neville to kiss clumsily, with maybe a little teeth-clashing, and was instead given a rather opposite experience.

There were so many sensations at once. He could feel Neville's heart beating through their robes as his chest pressed against his own, making his heart beat harder. His hands clutched Neville's as their mouths moved together, fervorous.

He wasn't going to lie, he rather liked this sure side of Neville.

The kiss didn't last very long, but when they pulled apart, they were both breathless and flushed.

Blaise had no idea what to do with himself. It had finally happened, and he didn't feel a bit guilty about it like he had thought he would. After all, it was Neville who initiated the kiss and let him know that it was okay. Besides, the kiss was amazing, in every sense of the word, unlike all of the meaningless kisses with so many others. It was just...so like Neville, if that made any sense, in the way that he was constantly being pleasantly surprised.

"Blaise?" Neville said softly, biting his lip in worry.

Blaise smiled and released his hands from Neville's grip to instead settle gently around his waist.

"Can I kiss you again?" Blaise asked in response, wanting to get rid of the small crease between his eyebrows.

The Gryffindor smiled and nodded, tilting his head up with closed eyes, making Blaise smile and feel like he was dying a little. How was someone able to be so cute?

He placed a light kiss on Neville's mouth, focusing on going slow. He wanted to feel it out and enjoy every second of their kiss, taking it all in.

Neville's lips were rather soft as they moved with his, occasionally pushing firmly at Blaise's when he pulled back a bit. It made Blaise smile into the kiss at the thought of Neville enjoying himself and gaining the confidence to be so insistent.

He hummed with appreciation when Neville slid his hands up to cup his face, pulling him even closer, apparently eager.

Although he was feeling warm all over, he didn't see their kiss going in any heated direction at the moment, which was very foreign to him. First kisses with people were never something that he wanted to cherish or explore, but with Neville, he would gladly do so. There was something rather wonderful about that.

Blaise pulled away and watched as Neville's eyes fluttered open.

"Wow," Neville breathed, face slightly flushed.

"I'll say," Blaise said, grinning. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"Where did I- I didn't, I mean you can't- Blaise!"

"Right, sorry. Bad question," Blaise said, unable to stop smiling at how cute he was. It seemed that flustered Neville wasn't something that just went away...

"B-Blaise, I have to go," Neville whispered, poking at the arms that he had around his waist.

"Why?" Blaise asked, smile sliding off before he could stop himself.

"I have homework to do," he said, eyes nervously flicking around Blaise's face, biting his lips.

"Oh," Blaise said, smiling gently to show that he wasn't too upset. "So you need me to walk you to the library or something?"

"O-oh," Neville said, blushing. "You really don't have to..."

"Sure I do," Blaise said, releasing Neville to get up and grab their bags off of the ground.

"You _are_ feeling alright though, right?" Blaise asked, turning back to Neville once he had both bags.

Neville nodded with a soft smile, making Blaise melt inside.

✴✴✴

"How was it?" Pansy asked, sitting cross-legged on Blaise's bed, looking quite smug.

"Fine," Blaise said, setting his bag down and trying not to lose concentration, or else he might smile.

"Fine?" Pansy asked. "_Fine_? Having the chance to comfort your crush is just _fine_?"

"Yep," he drawled, mouth twitching.

Finally unable to keep up the act, he burst into chuckles, smiling so much it hurt.

"Blaise!" Pansy exclaimed, wide-eyed and worried. "What am I missing here?"

"Everything," he said, laughing some more at Pansy's betrayed expression.

"If you don't tell me anything," Pansy said, crossing her arms, "I will have to simply assume that you were so touchstarved that you are simply over the moon at getting to hug Neville sorry something. And I don't think I deserve that."

Blaise rolled his eyes fondly.

"So, it came to my attention that Neville had feelings for me," he started, not sure if he wanted to drag the story out or make it as short as possible, "and so-"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait," Pansy interrupted. "You're a blunt and oblivious idiot, how in Salazar's name did you figure it out?"

"Wow, thanks a lot," Blaise said. "Just for that, I'm not telling you."

"_Blaise!_"

"No," he said. "Anyway, Neville was upset so I wanted to, I don't know, make him feel better? So I took him to a nice quiet place and kind of just..."

"You what?" Pansy asked, leaning forward and motioning for him to continue. "C'mon, Blaise, you what?"

"We hugged," he said.

"You _hugged_?" Pansy moaned despairingly. "You HUGGED? IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN DO? YOUR CRUSH IS UPSET, MAYBE CRYING, AND THE BEST YOU CAN DO...IS HUG HIM?"

"Pansy calm-"

"NO, I WILL _NOT!_" she shrieked. "YOU BAFOON, YOU ABSOLUTE IDIOT."

"Pansy seriously, take it eas-"

"YOU THINK THIS IS A GAME? A JOKE? STOP PLAYING WITH THE POOR BOY'S HEART!"

"Oh, Merlin," Blaise sighed, wondering why she needed to screech at every opportunity. "We also kissed, alright!"

"YOU NEED TO GET- wait, you kissed?" She sat there silent for a few moments, blinking. Then, the realization set in, and if Blaise had thought that she was noisy before, now she was absolutely shrieking.

"_MERLIN ON FIRE, IT FINALLY HAPPENED! WE ARE SAVED, AND I AM FINALLY FREE_! I WIN! AHAHAHHAHA," Pansy began to cackle, giving Blaise a near heart attack.

"You win?" Blaise inquired once Pansy was breathing normally again.

"Don't worry about it," Pansy said, waving his question off. "What I want to know is if he's a good kisser or not."

"None of your business," Blaise grumbled, crossing his arms.

"Aww, Bwaisy, I'm not going to steal your boyfriend," she cooed. "I just want to know!"

"Well, I'm not telling you," Blaise huffed.

"Fine, but tell me this, when he kisses does he-"

"_Pansy, I swear_,"

"Okay, okay! I'll stop," Pansy said. "I'm just so happy! You guys are finally dating now! It's going to be great, you guys can go to an official Hogsmeade date and-"

"We're not dating," Blaise uttered, glaring at the wall.

Pansy became deathly silent.

"This better be a damn joke, Zabini," Pansy said.

Blaise stayed quiet, continuing to glare at the wall.

"BLAISE, YOU STUPID, STUPID BOY,"


	15. A Plan

The next morning, Blaise stumbled to breakfast in a haze. He felt as if the world he was walking in wasn't real and that all of yesterday was but a dream. If it weren't for Pansy giving him sly grins and glares along with Draco congratulating him first thing in the morning, he would have certainly thought so.

"Sleeping beauty awakens!" Pansy said as Blaise joined them at the Slytherin table.

"Sleeping beauty?" Blaise asked, confused at the title.

"Muggle thing," Pansy waved him off, taking a bite of her toast.

"Muggle thing?" Blaise asked, confused even more.

Pansy hummed and dismissively buttered another slice of toast, as if what had come out of her mouth was the most natural thing.

Blaise cast Draco with a look that said 'are you hearing this right now?' and in return got nothing, because surprise, surprise, lover boy was busy making eyes at Potter from across the hall.

Rolling his eyes, he casually turned around to see that indeed, Potter was returning the sickening stare with one of his own, head resting on his chin like a love-sick girl.

Almost as if they had a mind of their own, his eyes slid to where Neville was sitting, happily munching on some eggs. He looked very angelic with the sunlight through the windows framing his head in a perfect golden glow, making Blaise's stomach feel fluttery.

As if noticing his stare, Neville glanced up from his breakfast to meet Blaise's gaze with a bright smile. In return, Blaise was unable to do anything but blush and turn around again, clutching at the table and willing his face to return to a normal colour.

"Pffft,"

"Shut up, Draco,"

"Even I wasn't that bad," Draco had the nerve to say, not breaking eye contact with Potter.

"Well, if you consider obsessing, whining and doing stupid things for attention from Potter to be 'not bad' then yes, you are correct," Blaise retorted, feeling victorious when Draco finally ripped his stare away from the Gryffindor table to give him a glare.

"If looks could kill..." Pansy chuckled.

"Sadly, they cannot," Draco huffed.

✴✴✴

"Do you suppose one of us will die today?" Pansy wondered as they rushed their way to the greenhouses to escape the cold. The nice sunny weather had disappeared, leaving them with chilly winds and dark storm clouds crowding the sky.

"Perhaps," Draco answered, pulling his scarf tighter around himself.

"Stop being so dramatic, you two," Blaise chided. "It's only a giant plant out to rip off all of our limbs."

"You're only being so positive because you have Neville and Hermione as your partners," Pansy grumbled. "I have Seamus-I-like-to-blow-things-up-Finnigan and Lavender Brown."

"Since when did you call Granger by her first name?" Draco asked.

"Since recently, I suppose," Pansy drawled, walking ahead to enter the greenhouse.

"Recently?" Blaise parroted. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Draco shrugged and they followed her inside. It was certainly strange how Pansy was acting, but she was obviously not going to share anytime soon, so it was always best to leave her be.

"Blaise, good morning," Granger greeted.

"Morning,"

"I see that you and Neville have been getting along well," she remarked with a sly quirk of her mouth.

"Is that so?" Blaise said, leaning back against the table.

"Of course," Granger chirped. "It's about time. You two have been rather slow at noticing each other's feelings. It's certainly a relief to see you two more relaxed around one another."

"Agreed," he replied, sitting up when he saw Neville nearing them with a small smile.

"I'm happy for you guys," she murmured and turned away to prepare their equipment.

"Hey," 

"H-hey," Blaise mumbled back, humiliated that he couldn't think of anything original to say back and stop stuttering around Neville. It seemed that he couldn't look at Neville directly without thinking of their...kiss yesterday.

"Merlin," Blaise heard Weasley complain from a table away, "how did Neville not know the bloke liked him?! Even I can tell!"

Identical blushes rushed up both of their cheeks at Weasley's words.

Blaise hurriedly turned away and busied himself with preparing for the lesson as he waited for his blush to die down. Honesty, did Weasley have no shame?

"Alright, settle down," Professor Sprout called, clapping her hands to get their attention. "Due to the many accidents that have occurred over this unit, I have decided that it would be best if you all took a break from the Fanged Geraniums and focused on something else instead."

The class shared a collective breath of relief. 

"We will instead be feeding the Venomous Tentacula for the sixth years,"

The class sucked in a shocked breath.

"Don't be alarmed now," Professor Sprout said. "Just be careful and give them each a couple of Chizpurfles each. Now follow me to the other greenhouse please."

Blaise shared a worried look with Granger as Neville smiled, seemingly pleased.

"Aren't you a bit worried?" Blaise asked him as they left the greenhouse. "I mean, aren't they dangerous? Maybe more than those fanged monsters we're working on now?"

"Uhm, not really? They should be about the same as the Fanged Geraniums, except with more reach..." Neville trailed off, rubbing his lip absently. "I guess we don't have to worry too much sice we're only feeding them."

Blaise shrugged and glanced at Granger, who was pale with worry.

"Im not saying that Professor Sprout is irresponsible, but..."

She didn't have to finish her sentence, for Blaise was able to see for himself once the greenhouse doors opened. Inside were writhing vines of the plants, twisting around to reach for them, as if sensing fresh meat.

"Now, now, students," Professor Sprout said, "there's no need to worry. These class of Tentacula don't have venomous spikes on their branches and will instead simply grab you up. If this happens, do not panic and instead use lumos. Group members, please look after each other."

And with that, she left them to fend for themselves.

"I agree with you Granger," Blaise said as he dodged a twisting vine aimed for his shoulder. "She _is_ irresponsible."

"I never said that!" She huffed. "I specified that I wasn't saying she was irresponsible."

"Yes, well, I got the drift of what you were saying," he grinned.

"Whatever, I'm going to grab the Chizpurfles,"

"Uptight, that one," Blaise winked at Neville, rewarded with an amused chuckle and internal victory for being so smooth. If he kept this up, maybe he would get somewhere with these feelings.

"Word of advice, use levitation for the Chizpurfles," Granger said as she returned with a steel bucket of two crab-looking creatures. "I just saw Ron reach into the bucket and get his finger snipped at. Honestly don't know what he was thinking..."

"If he was thinking at all," Blaise laughed.

Granger rolled her eyes and turned away, but Blaise could see the smile curving at her mouth.

They got to work, figuring out a method to feed the plants without getting strangled or snapped at, which took a lot more time than it should have, but they were doing far better than the other groups. For one, Potter had idiotically levitated the Chizpurfle right in the path of the swinging vine, sending the creature flying at Ron. Needless to say, the screaming that filled the room was equally disturbing as it was hilarious.

Eventually, they had worked out a sort of system to get the damn plant to eat. Granger ended up in charge of levitating the food while Neville and Blaise focused on keeping the vines from harming them.

Needless to say, by the time they had miraculously accomplished feeding the first Chizpurfle, they were not at the top of their game. Granger was frustrated and constantly furrowing her eyebrows, Neville was tired and unateady, and Blaise was sick of the Tantecula's little games. Hell, even the Chizpurfle was done, it's body now limp as it swung through the air as if to say "eat me already" and Blaise couldn't agree more.

"Just one more and we're finished" Blaise groaned, wiping his brow. "Just one more..."

Blaise looked over at Neville for what was probably the hundredth time. He had been sneaking glances all day, and it wasn't as if he could help it. His hair was ruffled and sticking up in various directions and he had a cute little smile on his face. It was that happy expression that caused his chest to harbor a strange fuzzy, warm feeling, and he couldn't say that he hated it (quite the opposite, actually.)

Just as his attention was drawn away from the Tentacula, a number of stray vines shot out to wrap around his middle and pushed him into the left, towards Neville. His wand fell uselessly out of his grasp and he awkwardly clutched at his sweater for support. 

It seemed that Neville was in a similar predicament as his body was squished against Blaise's by the vines of the Tentacula, forcing him to grip Blaise in an effort to stay standing. 

Thankfully, Granger was a quick thinker and launched the Chizpurfle at the Tentacula, successfully distracting it from the ridiculous position that it had placed them in. The strange vines holding them slithered away, leaving them still clutching each other in shock.

Blaise glanced down at Neville, who was staring up at him with a startled expression, doe-eyed. Blaise was still struggling to process what had occurred over those short few seconds.

Granger started to giggle into her hands, breaking the stunned silence between them.

Blaise sheepishly let go of Neville's sweater and awkwardly chuckled.

"Nev," Blaise murmured, a rush of courage sweeping through him. "Would you like-"

"Well done!" Professor Sprout interrupted, clapping her hands cheerfully. "You're the first group to finish! I'll treat you to some time off alright? Now clean yourselves up!"

Blaise bit back an annoyed groan as his chance to ask Neville to an official Hogsmeade trip slipped away. He couldn't say he was exactly disappointed at that, sice he was still nervous and didn't know how to phrase the question correctly, but it was always better to get things over with.

"Blaise?" Hermione said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"About what, exactly?" He said, glancing in Neville's direction, who was currently trying to unbutton his sweater with furrowed brows. "Everything is fine."

"Then why do you look so troubled?" She asked. "you were trying to ask him something. What was it?"

"You know what I was about to ask. Don't make me say it."

"Look," she sighed. "Things look like they're going slow between you guys, but that's a good sign. It means you have plenty of time to plan something extra romantic and sweep him off of his feet."

Blaise narrowed his eyes. "You and Pansy need to lay off of the romance novels. Seriously."

Hermione shrugged.

"But thanks. Really." He smiled. "I think I have a plan."

Hermione nodded and turned to follow Blaise's gaze to Neville, who was now grinning proudly at his unbottoned sweatshirt.

"You really got it bad,"


	16. Mistletoe

Blaise picked at his teacup as Pansy and Draco chattered on about the latest gossip of Hogwarts. He wanted to partake in the conversation, but his mind was elsewhere, drifting to his dilemma with Neville. How would he ask him out successfully? Now that he knew the feeling was mutual, there was nothing standing in his way...

"-right Blaise?" Pansy said, smirking into her teacup.

Blaise blinked slowly as he tried to remember what they were talking about."Uh...right, of course,"

Pansy grinned gleefully and laughed.

"You actually admitted to that? I knew you weren't listening, but really?"

"What? What did I just agree to?" He gulped, glancing to Draco who was smiling into his cup.

"That what Brown and Patil are saying is true," Draco said. "That your hungry stares at Neville are of a predatory desire."

Blaise choked.

"I told them that they were wrong, of course," Pansy said, stirring her tea gracefully.

"Thank Merlin," Blaise sighed.

"Instead I corrected them," she said, "that your stares are one of a deep yearning."

Blaise choked again as his two traitorous friends simply grinned.

"Don't worry, it's not that big of a deal," Draco assured, "They won't tell anyone about what's going on between you and Neville."

"In fact, we made sure of it," Pansy said.

"I'm not sure I want to know how," Blaise sighed. The two were too mischievous for their own good.

"Yeah, Brown and Patil wouldn't speak of your business with him, especially one so forbidden, so tragic," Draco laughed.

"I wonder where they got such outlandish ideas," Blaise said, rolling his eyes.

"That, my dear, will remain a mystery," Pansy said, eyes dancing with mirth. "But this is beside the point. Now that you are properly paying attention, I need to know all the details about how you are going to ask Neville out."

"Wait, what makes you say that I will?"

Draco and Pansy both looked him knowingly.

"Blaise, do you honestly think that we, as friends who have known you for a very long time, would ever fall for whatever image you're trying to show? We know how you really feel."

"Yes," Draco smirked, "afraid."

Blaise growled and lifted his chin. "I'm not afraid,"

"Then prove it,"

"Now now, boys," Pansy said. "The hypocrisy is killing me."

Both boys rolled their eyes and Blaise could hear Draco mutter an '_I wish_,' into his teacup.

"We really need to get things on track. We all know that winter romances are in," she said, seemingly oblivious to the bemusement of her company, "so wouldn't you two agree that it is about time to grow a pair and start dating already?"

"Couldn't you say the same for yourself?" Blaise asked.

"Oh! The hypocrisy is killing me!" Draco mocked, hand flying to his forehead dramatically.

Pansy sniffed haughtily. "This is different, because unlike you two who have bricks for brains, I'm not in a pine-fest where both parties are in a weird we-have-feelings-for-each-other-but-we-aren't-dating limbo,"

Blaise and Draco slumped into their chairs. Pansy was making it sound simpler than it actually was, but she also seemed to have a point.

Blaise sighed.

"I have something planned already, so stay out of it," he warned, and picked up his book bag to leave.

✴✴✴

Blaise had a plan. It was half-formed, yes, but it was a start.

The first phase of his plan was to get a present for Neville. There was only so much time before Christmas break, and he was running out of time. Shopping wasn't an option, and he didn't have anything that was good enough to simply gift away to Neville. It had to be perfect.

That is why Blaise was now sitting in a corner of the library pretending to study, when really, he was just making a list of all things Neville seemed to like. So far he had chocolate frogs, herbology, toads, and many other things. In his absentmindedness, he had added things about Neville that he liked, including blushing, warmth, and how cute he looked bundled in a scarf with snow in his lashes.

He was about to add "brave determination," when a shadow stretch over his paper.

He craned his neck up to see Neville, who was smiling at him warmly, making his stomach swoop with excitement at first, but then plummet in panic.

"H-hey, Nev," Blaise said, wincing when his voice cracked. He tried to move his hand to cover his embarrassing list inconspicuously, or else he would risk Neville seeing it, and then how would he explain himself?

"Do you mind if I study with you?" Neville asked, brows creased with worry.

"Of course not, just..." Now is a really bad timing! 

"Oh, sorry, am I going to be a distraction?" Neville asked, eyes full of worry, and Blaise wondered if Neville was just someone who was unintentionally flirty, or someone who did it on purpose. If the latter were true, Blaise was in for a hell of a ride.

"No," he said, which was a complete lie, "go ahead."Neville smiled and pulled the seat across from Blaise to sit down. 

This was bad. very, very bad. If Neville happened to look up and attempt to read Blaise's list he was doomed. He was sure he would never live down the embarrassment from this moment on. He could see it now- him and Neville drinking with some friends in the distant future, when a terrible friend (Pansy) leans over and asks how Neville knew that Blaise was dating material, and then Neville would laugh and-No! Why did his imagination go there? Of all the scenarios...and great, now he was blushing thinking of an older Neville...

"Blaise..." Neville whispered, shaking him out of his mini panic.

He looked up to see what Neville was whispering about to have his eyes land on...a bundle of mistletoe? 

"I thought it was too early for mistletoe to be in the castle?" Blaise asked, unable to take his gaze away from the mysterious plant. "That is mistletoe, right?"

"I-I think so, yes..."

Blaise wanted to scream. He wanted to run away. No, he wanted to run away screaming. There was no way he was kissing Neville in a place so public. It would be embarrassing for both of them, and he didn't even know if Neville was okay with whatever was going on between them. Merlin, why didn't he try to make it official, lay some ground rules? This was terrible and confusing. 

He chanced a look at Neville, who was biting his lip at Blaise with a worried expression, and Blaise wondered if he always wore that expression because of him. He hoped not, but now was not the time.

"You think it's charmed?" Blaise asked.

"I don't know, but they usually are," Neville said. "What do we do?" he asked, glancing from the mistletoe to Blaise with a blush dusting his cheeks.

What do they do indeed? In any other circumstance, Blaise would have simply leaned across the table with a flirty expression and confidently gone in for the kiss, but this was not any other circumstance, this was Neville.

"I...would you like to...?" Blaise murmured, reaching his hand across the table to rest in front of Neville's, giving him the chance to make the choice.

"Would you?" Neville replied, voice soft and hesitant as he inched his own hand closer to Blaise's so that they were touching ever so slightly.

Blaise wasn't sure if it was simply his imagination, but the library was much warmer than it was a few minutes before.

"I'm fine with it if you are," Blaise said, "but I'm not going to push you to do this, I won't be upset if you're not ready."

"I...sorry," Neville said, lips twitching as he tried to repress a frown. "I want-but I...there's people and I..."

"Hey, not big deal, we'll just sit here and wait it out, okay?" Blaise said, ignoring his disappointment. It wasn't like it was completely realistic to expect Neville to jump at the idea ot snogging him in the middle of the library, but he couldn't help it. Maybe he just wanted to show everyone that he and Neville were a thing, which wasn't really a good reason to want to kiss someone, but he still thought about it.

They sat in silence while the mistletoe levitated above them, its presence somehow distracting and louder than everything else. 

Blaise was startled by slight whispering from the shelves behind them. He pretended to stretch in his chair and glanced behind him, but didn't catch sight of anyone. Perhaps he had misplaced the direction that the whispering came from?

He turned back in his chair to see Neville staring in the same direction Blaise had been.

"Did you hear something?" Blaise asked in a low voice, flipping through his pages as he used the opportunity to tuck away his list.

"I thought I heard someone talking back there..." Neville murmured, squinting over Blaise's shoulder.

"I thought I did too, but I didn't see anyone," he said.

Neville stared ahead in silent thought for a few moments before he turned to Blaise with a strange expression. 

"Kiss me," Neville said with determination burning in his eyes. 

"W-what?" Blaise spluttered with disbelief. Did Neville just demand that he kiss him? "But I thought.."

Neville swallowed and leaned forward. "I don't care,"

Blaise didn't have to be told twice. He leaned across the table, closed his eyes, and pecked Neville on the lips.

He drew back slightly to see Neville binking slowly.

"Something is weird here," Blaise said. "Lets go study somewhere else."

He pushed his chair back and muttered a spell to arrange his books into a bag before grabbing Neville's shoulder and leading him out of the library.

"What's going on?" Neville asked, eyes wide. 

"I don't know, and I don't like it." Blaise responded, hoping that he wasn't just being paranoid. He trusted his gut instincts however, and his gut instinct told him to get away as soon as possible.

"Do you have any good studying places?" He asked, glancing behind him as he turned down the corridor.

"What about that place that we..." Neville's cheeks were starting to flush as he glanced nervously back at Blaise, who immediately knew what he was thinking of.

"Neville, if we go back to the alcove where I kissed you, we won't get any studying done," Blaise said seriously. As much as that idea sounded like the best there ever was, he actually had a lot of things on his plate that needed to be taken care of, like planning the perfect way to ask Neville out.

Neville simply smiled sheepishly and covered his flaming cheeks with his hands. 

"We could always just go to the great hall and hang out there," Blaise offered.

"That might be a- a problem..." Neville squeaked, eyes trained above Blaise's head.

"There's a mistletoe above me, isn't there," he said, and let out a small curse when Neville nodded his head. 

It wasn't that he had a problem with kissing Neville. He just didn't want a pesky levitating mistletoe to be the only reason for doing so. He just hoped that Neville wasn't getting offended by how Blaise was reacting to the plant.

"DUCK!" was the only warning they received before Potter sent a stunning spell over their heads at the mistletoe, which then shot across the hall from impact.

"What the hell?" Blaise yelled, clutching Neville's shoulder in alarm.

"We should probably run," Potter said, before he took off dashing down the hall.

"Seriously, who does that?" He grumbled, before he was pulled down the hall that Potter went down.

They didn't get the chance to go very far, however, when a swarm of small birds started to attack Potter.

Blaise yelled in alarm as another swarm headed in the direction of where he and Neville were standing.

Blaise grabbed Neville's hand and started to run like mad in the direction which they came from.

"Do you know where we could hide?" Blaise asked as they turned a corner in the hall.

"The greenhouses?" Neville proposed, gripping Blaise's hand tighter as he took a sharp turn to get to the greenhouses. It was a far run, but they could do it. Especially with the right motivation, which was the swarm of tiny, vicious birds flying after them.

After running through what felt like all of Hogwarts, the boys burst through the Green house doors and collapsed on the floor.

"What was that about?" Blaise panted, struggling to understand what had occurred mere minutes ago.

Neville gasped and sat up with a look of horror on his face. "We left Harry!"

"Oh..." He hoped that Potter was okay, but at the time, his only priority was getting himself and Neville away from the birds as soon as possible.

"I'm sure he's fine," Blaise assured, settling a hand on his shoulder. "He's been through worse, I'm sure."

Blaise got up off of the ground and dusted himself off. He then extended a hand to help Neville up, only to gasp in horror.

In Neville's hand was the worn paper with the terribly embarrassing list about him.

"I- it's not what you think, I..."

Neville grabbed Blaise's hand and pulled himself up off of the ground.

"It's not what I think?" Neville asked, looking at Blaise with a... teasing expression? But wasn't he supposed to be creeped out, or even upset?

"Tell me if I'm wrong, but it's not a list of things that I like?"

Blaise made to open his mouth in retaliation, or to correct him, but was left to shut his mouth when he couldn't say that it wasn't.

"It isn't also a list with things that you like about me?"

Blaise could feel the heat creeping up his face when he couldn't say anything.

Neville let go of Blaise's hand to step away and make his way farther into the green house as Blaise was left to watch nervously. He then plucked something off and made his way back over with it hidden behind his back.

"Close your eyes," Neville whispered, leaneing closer to him.

Blaise reluctantly closed his eyes as he fiddled with the seam of his shirt. What was Neville doing?

He suddenly felt a warm pair of lips settle over his own, and he had to hold in a gasp. Did Neville perhaps like that he had written that list?!

He blissfully kissed back until Neville pulled away with an intake of breath.

Blaise's eyes fluttered open to the beautiful sight of Neville smiling.

"Mistletoe," Neville giggled, glancing up at the sprig which he was holding above their heads.

Blaise leaned forward and pecked him on the lips twice more for good measure, pleased at a small blush dusting his cheeks.

"You're not mad about the list?" Blaise asked.

"No, why would I be mad?"

"Because it's weird," he said, glancing awkwardly at his shoes. "I was just thinking of what to get you for Christmas and I just sort of wrote all of that stuff."

"You were going to get me a present?" Neville exclaimed as if it was such a surprise.

"Well, yeah," Blaise pouted. "I wanted to get something for you and then-" Blaise proceeded to mumble out the rest of his intentions as a scarlet blush overtook his features.

"Then you were going to what?" Neville asked, confused.

"I was going to ask you to be my boyfriend." Blaise whispered, cheeks turning even darker.

Neville huffed as if his breath was stolen out of him and looked down to play with Blaise's hands awkwardly.

"You don't have to say anything now, I just thought that with all of the things that happened between us...well, now you know how I feel," he gulped, stomach sinking at Neville's lack of answer.

"I've known how you felt for a while," Neville murmured, his head still down. "I was just too much of a coward to say anything, or- or do anything and I...what kind of Gryffindor does that make me?"

Blaise frowned. Coward? That was one of the last words he would ever use to describe Neville.

"I don't think that's true at all," Blaise said, adjusting his fingers to gently lace with Neville's. "In fact, I find that you've taken initiative many times, and that took a lot of courage. Hell, I think we've both been a little timid about this, but what I want to know now is...do you feel the same?"

"Of course I do!" Neville exclaimed, eyes darting to meet Blaise's. "I didn't mean to make you feel like I never did, Merlin, I've liked you since forever..."

As Neville realized what he said, a blush overtook his face as he fumbled to correct his slip of mouth, but Blaise found that his heart was skipping too fast to care.

"I've liked you for what feels like forever, if that counts," Blaise offered, finding his grip on his wooing nature.

Neville smiled and nodded. "Okay,"

"Okay what?"

"I'll be your boyfriend," Neville grinned, flinging himself into Blaise's chest, arms wrapped around his torso.

Blaise found himself grinning hard, tucking his face down into Neville's neck. This was the best day of his life.


	17. Winter Break

"Have you seen Pansy or Draco anywhere?" Blaise asked Neville as they studied in the library. "I fell asleep before anyone else and I didn't see them when I woke up this morning." 

"No, I haven't," He answered, concern evident, "But we haven't had a lot of opportunities to see them either, because we've been, well..."

"Spending most of our time together?" Blaise smirked, lacing his fingers with his boyfriend's.

Neville nodded, a secret smile on his lips as he gazed at their intertwined fingers. His eyes held warmth that made Blaise want to allow his sappy feelings to burst from his chest. He squeezed Neville's hand lightly and sighed in contentment. 

"I know you won't be staying in the castle over winter break, but promise to write me all about your Christmas, all right?" Blaise said, ignoring the small weight of disappointment in his stomach. He was never the clingy type, an he didn't want to start now.

Neville nodded tugged Blaise closer to himself in reassurance. "I'll also send you a present, since I don't have one for you right now,"

Blaise was startled and reached into his pocket in remembrance. "I actually have a present for you that I was going to give you before you left, almost forgot," he took out a wrapped package with a folded note tied to it. "Don't open it until you get to your grandmother's."

He took the present from Blaise as if it were the most fragile thing on earth.

"I'll miss you, even if its only for a week or so," Blaise murmured, embarrassed to admit so.

Neville's face brightened and turned slightly pink. "I'll miss you too,"

"If its of any consolation," Blaise smirked devilishly, "I plan on kissing you senseless once you get back." 

His words caused a scarlet blush to travel up Neville's face (much to Blaise's delight). 

He really was lucky...

✴✴✴

"I can't believe it actually worked," Pansy said over a streaming cup of tea.

"Of course it worked, we're geniuses," Hermione grinned.

"Yeah, a genius team," Pansy said, and knocked her shoulders with Hermione.

"Cheers to that," Hermione said, lifting her cup to clink with the other witch's.

"You're both horrible," Draco whined, sinking into his chair.

Pansy gave her trademark smirk and shrugged. "Not much to do about that, I'm afraid,"

Draco groaned and knocked back his tea as if it was a nice, strong firewhiskey .

"It is your fault for making a deal with Pansy, you know," Hermione scolded. "You should have know better than to do so."

"I really should have..."

"Nice charms work though, Hermione," Pansy said. "Those birds that you conjured certainly did the trick!"

"Why thank you," She said, "although it really should't have taken the means it did, those silly boys..."

"That's why they're friends with us," Pansy added.

Both girls laughed, knowing that they were certainly more observant than their oblivious friends who didn't notice their feelings for each other.

"Now all that's left is Draco and Harry," Pansy sighed. "Shouldn't be too hard, now that we're working together."

"What are you guys, some kind of power couple now?" Draco said, throwing his hands up in disdain.

Both girls' faces turned as red tomatoes. 

"What, n-no, why would you-"

"It-Its really not l-like-"

Their eyes met and a contemplative silence followed.

"I suppose it wouldn't be so bad..."

"It rather does make sense to..."

Hermione shot off of the couch and advanced to the door. "I have studying to do. In the library, now." She held Pansy's startled gaze for a moment and turned.

"Oh! I meant...oh...I also have-I have arrangements that must be taken care of, if you must know," She sniffed importantly and strutted to the exit, if not a little hurriedly. 

Draco scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Finally," he sighed.


	18. Happily Ever After

_Dear Neville,_

_I know that I wouldn't be able to say this in person, as I'm the worst with being heart to heart, and figured you deserved some anyway, even if it was in a letter instead of me saying it to you and getting to see your beautiful expressions, so my solution was to attach it to your Christmas present._

_I feel so fortunate to be able to call you mine, and it baffles me to know that I get to hold a boy so beautiful, so brave, and so good. I really don't deserve you, but that's just it, isn't it? your significant other is supposed to make you want to be enough for them, to be able to proudly shout to the world that you are deserving of them, and them of you. I know that I haven't been the best person in the past, but you make me want to try. (You also make me want to pour my sappy and grossly emotional feelings out, which scares me)_

_Heart to heart aside, I hope you're having a wonderful Christmas,_

_Yours truly, _

_Blaise_


End file.
